Darkest Hour
by moonstone glows
Summary: Chronos have managed to retrieve one of the control metals, but with enemies on all sides, can Archanfel's faithful few still stand? All is not well in the heart of Chronos. Is this truly thier darkest hour?
1. Chapter 1

Balkus and Shin were closeted in Balkus's office when the door opened, and they were both startled to see Imakarum step inside. He hadn't been seen by any of the remaining council members since his injury at the hands of Guyver 3, even though Balkus knew that Archanfel had used the Ark to awaken him.

"Imakarum?"

The younger Zoalord looked tired, and a little unsteady as he approached the desk.

"Elder Balkus, Lord Shin," he acknowledged, putting a flat black box down on the curved desk.

"What is this?" Balkus asked.

"I encountered a most interesting female, she was a Guyver," Imakarum replied.

"You killed Guyver 4?" Shin asked, surprised.

"Yes. I retrieved the control metal from her. Lord Balkus, you will do what needs to be done with this, yes?"

"I will start work on recreating the Guyver unit immediately. Does Archanfel know you have gotten this?"

"Not yet, I shall go and tell him now, I thought it more important to get it to you, so that you could commence work," Imakarum said a little pointedly.

Balkus's lips compressed slightly at the thinly veiled hint, but said nothing, rising from his desk.

"Indeed, Shin, will you assist, the quicker we can get this done, the better,"

"Of course," Shin agreed, and Imakarum watched them both leave the office. He smiled faintly as he heard Shin's voice, just before the door closed.

"Are you going to let him get away with talking to you like that?"

He didn't hear Balkus's answer, but it didn't matter either way, he answered to Archanfel, and no-one else. He turned to leave the office himself, and a wave of dizziness hit him, he caught himself on the doorframe as the door slid open, steadying himself and forcing the momentary weakness away. He was relieved that there was no one in the corridor to see him as he pulled himself together, and straightened from the support of the doorframe, stepping out into the hall. He just needed to let Archanfel know that he had gotten a control metal, even if it wasn't from Guyver 1 or 3, and then he could rest for a while, the battle against that damn female Guyver had taken a surprising amount of his energy.

He flew to Sihla instead of teleporting, concerned at the possibility of another moment of weakness when he was in transit. As it was, his knees buckled as he touched down at the top of the temple. He knelt on the sun heated stone for a long moment, gathering himself. He knew what was happening to him, and that there was little he could do about it, but he was damned if he was folding before he had reached Archanfel. He forced himself up to his feet once more, balancing himself with one hand against the stones of the temple as he carefully descended the stairs as he determinedly headed down to the chamber where Archanfel lay.

Reaching the altar, he leaned heavily against it as he reached out and laid his hand over Archanfel's heart.

"Wake up, my Lord," he called softly.

Archanfel's lashes fluttered at the summons, golden eyes drifting open.

"Masaki?" he murmured tiredly.

"Archanfel, a short while ago, I delivered a control metal into the hands of Elder Balkus," he said.

Archanfel sat up, his eyes widening.

"You killed Guyver 1, or 3?" he asked.

"Neither, she was Guyver 4, apparently. Elder Balkus could probably tell you more," Imakarum said with a faint smile.

He swayed then, and Archanfel grabbed his arm, steadying him.

"Masaki?"

"I…" Imakarum trailed off with a sigh, crumpling so suddenly that Archanfel couldn't maintain his grip on the younger Zoalord's arm.

Archanfel hurriedly rose from his resting place, moving around to where Imakarum lay sprawled against the foot of the altar, his dark hair and cloak stark where they spread over the whiteness of the stone.

He felt a twinge of an unfamiliar emotion when he couldn't rouse Masaki, and recognized it as something he hadn't felt in a couple of million years, fear.

"Hold on, my Masaki, we'll soon find out what's wrong," he whispered, gathering him close, the dark head coming to rest on his shoulder.

He teleported to where he could sense Hamilcar, appearing in the small, dimly lit lab where Balkus and Shin were working on the control metal.

"Archanfel," they said as one, going down to one knee as they saw him.

"Hamilcar, Masaki has collapsed, I can't wake him," he said without preamble.

"Damn it, I thought he looked off when he delivered his prize, but he all but ordered me to start working on it," Balkus hissed, crouching to feel for a pulse. It was regular, but almost imperceptible, and Imakarum's skin was cool. Balkus had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach; these symptoms were achingly familiar to him.

"He probably didn't want you to pay too much attention to him," Archanfel sighed, looking up. He saw the look in the other man's eyes, and frowned.

"What is it?" he demanded.

"I would have to run more tests, to be sure, but his symptoms, they match yours when you _sleep_, Archanfel," he sighed.

"No, that isn't possible," he whispered, looking down at the young man he held. He curled protectively around him for a moment, holding him tightly, and then pulled back, kissing his temple.

"Take him, run your tests," he said quietly, transferring him into the other man's arms.

"Shin, put that in sterilizing solution, and lock it down, please," Balkus said, rising with Imakarum in his arms.

"Of course, Elder Balkus," Shin acknowledged as Balkus left the room.

Archanfel took one step in the direction of the door, and then stopped with a sigh, sensing Shin's curiosity, he smiled faintly.

"Hamilcar doesn't want me in medical while he is examining him, he thinks I'll get in the way," he said.

"Oh…I'm sure Imakarum will be fine," Shin said hesitantly as he lowered the control metal into the sterilizing solution to make sure that all traces of the former host's cells were destroyed to stop the Guyver regenerating her.

"I hope so," Archanfel breathed, hoping that Hamilcar's suspicion would be proved wrong.

"You seem…I'm sorry, it is not my concern," Shin said, turning away to lock the container down.

"Go on, Shin,"

"You seem very tender with him," Shin said, not meeting his eyes.

"Of course, I love him," Archanfel said simply. He caught the shocked look in Shin's eyes and smiled again, once more looking in the direction of the door.

"He's my son, Shin, my flesh and blood," he said gently.

"Your…I had no idea that you had a son," Shin breathed, stunned.

"Of course not, no-one knew, bar Hamilcar of course, and that only because he delivered him," Archanfel tilted his head slightly in Shin's direction, wondering if he would dare to ask him the question he could tell was on his mind, or if he would wait and ask Hamilcar.

"Does Imakarum know?" Shin asked, not the question Archanfel had been expecting, obviously that one _was _going to wait for Hamilcar, but he had to give him points for asking this one.

"Yes, he has known since he was 16, I took him from the people who had raised him then, there was much he needed to learn."

"So, you always intended for him to be a Zoalord?" Shin asked uncertainly.

"Yes, but not really until he was older than he is now. Things…got out of hand," Archanfel told him wryly.

"But…" Shin trailed off, unsure how to phrase his question without sounding critical.

"Guyot?" Archanfel prompted, leaning against the wall.

"Well, yes. If you had someone already suitable to make into a Zoalord, why optimize Guyot?"

"As I said, I wanted Masaki to be older; it is difficult to command respect when you permanently look that young. It isn't as if there were not other Zoalords that I suspected would need to be replaced," he reminded grimly.

"You doubted their loyalty?"

"I doubted their commitment, but unfortunately, _not _their loyalty," Archanfel sighed.

Shin opened his mouth, obviously having more questions, but Archanfel raised one hand to stop him.

"Please, you can ask Hamilcar your questions later, he has completed his initial examination now," Archanfel said, pushing away from the wall and turning to the door.

He was gone from the room without another word, or a backward glance. Shin stared at the door for several long minutes after it had slid shut again, still stunned by what he had learned. He couldn't quite wrap his mind around the concept, that Archanfel had a son, and he wondered what was wrong with Imakarum, finding himself hoping it was nothing serious; Archanfel had lost far too many people already. Shin finally left the lab, his mind already compiling a list of questions he wanted to ask Hamilcar later.

/x/

Archanfel hurried into the medical section, cutting straight across the room to the secure private treatment center that was used only for Zoalords.

"Well?" he demanded as soon as the door had closed behind him.

Balkus looked up from the still figure on the examination table, and the expression on his face answered the question far better than Archanfel liked.

"The preliminary scans show that the problem is not quite as serious as your condition, but it is the same thing. The crystal matrices are degraded, causing damage to his body that it's draining his energy to keep on top of repairing. I don't think he will be forced to sleep as long as you, not for a good few years yet anyway, but he is going to require extended periods of rest," Balkus said quietly.

"Why has this happened, Hamilcar?" he asked, looking down at Masaki.

He found that he looked ridiculously young, vulnerable, lying here like this without his uniform, armor and visor, he lay too still, barely seeming to breathe.

"I have a suspicion," Balkus admitted a little reluctantly. He really didn't want to say this.

"Spit it out," Archanfel growled, frustrated.

"The only common link that I know of, aside from genetics, which we ruled out long ago, is the pod, Archanfel, the artificial womb in the temple," he sighed.

"What?" Archanfel rasped, disbelieving.

"It's where you were suspended for so long, and it's where you took him, to heal the mortal injury Guyver 3 inflicted on him. You two are the _only _Zoalords who have been immersed there Archanfel, every one of the rest of us was optimized using medium created from the ancient records, and the Zoacrystals were all cloned in the same 'pure' medium, which is probably why they were all stable too. It's possible the Creators contaminated the medium in all of their artificial wombs before they fled, to try to ensure you didn't survive even if you could stop the meteor strike, or the disaster after you stopped it contaminated the fluid, but either way…"

"Either way, that poisoned me, and I just assumed that it was the strain of stopping the asteroid strike that did the harm, an assumption which led to me poisoning my own child," Archanfel interrupted bitterly. It didn't matter that the medium in the womb had been drained after Archanfel had first been woken, and replaced with fresh when he had put Masaki in there; it was fed by a network of vessels that would have harbored the contamination.

"You couldn't have known, I didn't even suspect that until now, what reason would either of us have to suspect it? I should examine the womb, to be certain that is the source, that we shouldn't be looking for something else."

"You can't, it was destroyed completely, when I used the stored energy of the Ark to wake him. You said yourself though, that is the common link, aside from the island itself, and you are not ill, while you have spent more time there over the centuries than he has in only fourteen years. I poisoned him Hamilcar."

"You can't think like that. All we can do now is force him to rest as much as possible, try to mitigate the amount of damage his body has to repair."

"There is always the control metal he retrieved, when you have recreated the Guyver from it…"

"No," Balkus cut him off sharply.

"Excuse me?" Archanfel's voice was soft, but Balkus had long since learned to read the threatening, dangerous undercurrents of that deceptive tone.

"You were about to tell me to bond the Guyver to him, when we have finished recreating it. I am sorry, my Lord, but no. He would never, ever, forgive either one of us if we did that."

"Last time I checked, Hamilcar, I was in charge here. That means it is not your decision, and it is not his, it is _mine_," he hissed, temper rising at this defiance by his oldest-and one of his most trusted-servants.

"He is my son, and I will do whatever I have to, to protect him now," he snarled.

"He is also your faithful servant, your Zoalord, intended to be your right hand. Worse than never forgiving us, he would never forgive himself if you did this. You would destroy him, if you gave up this chance to be made well, for him. There are two more Guyver units out there, but the Guyver Gigantic was created to beat you, and Makishima knows all of Imakarum's attacks now, even with a Guyver Imakarum may not have what it takes to defeat them, but bond you to the Guyver…" he trailed off, willing Archanfel's anger to diffuse, willing the Supreme Zoalord to finish that thought for himself.

"I don't think you've ever argued with me before," Archanfel's voice was genuinely soft now, the anger burned away, and Balkus knew that was as close as he would get to a capitulation from his Lord.

"I don't think I have ever disagreed quite so passionately with a decision you were about to make," he pointed out.

"Don't make a habit of it, Hamilcar," Archanfel said, half rebuke, half warning.

Balkus nodded his understanding, and Archanfel let the last of the tension bleed out of his posture, turning his attention back to the man on the table.

"How long do you think this sleep will last?" he asked.

"I think that we're looking at days, or weeks, not the years that your first sleep lasted, but other than that, I have no way of predicting," Balkus replied regretfully.

"Fine, then there is nothing more that can be done here?"

"No, why?"

"I'm taking him back to the temple, he will be safer there than anywhere else. The biggest risk there would be this Apollyon finding him, none of our other enemies know the place exists," Archanfel said bluntly.

"And if Apollyon does find him there?"

"Then I will make sure he tells me what he has done with the stolen Zoacrystals before he dies," Archanfel's tone was dark, lethal, and the gold of his eyes seemed to darken ominously.

Balkus said nothing more, watching silently as Archanfel lifted Imakarum's limp form from the table, hefting him easily before the pair vanished in a swirl of gold colored energy. He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose tiredly, before mentally reaching out for Shin, and asking him to go back to the lab. They needed to really focus on getting that Guyver recreated now. They couldn't afford to be without both Archanfel and Imakarum, not with the way everything was shaping up now.

/x/

Archanfel carried Imakarum to the altar, setting him gently onto the cool stone, laying him out carefully and stroking through his dark hair for a moment.

"Don't sleep too long, my Masaki, I need you," he whispered.

Finally he stepped back, turning from the altar and walking to the door, leaving his son to sleep in peace. He wondered if Hamilcar and Masaki always found it this hard to walk away from that altar when he lay there, it was an effort to keep walking as the heavy stone door ground shut behind him, the noise seeming obscenely loud in the silence of the temple.

/x/

Shin and Balkus had almost finished the preparations to begin reconstructing the Guyver when Shin decided that it was safe to ask some of the questions that had been playing on his mind.

"Did you discover what caused Imakarum's collapse?" he asked.

"Yes," he replied without elaborating.

"That bad?"

"You could say that," Balkus said wryly.

"He isn't going to die, is he?"

"Not in the short term, no. In the long term, and I am talking probably centuries here, yes, this will kill him if we can't stop it."

"But it can be stopped?"

Balkus looked up, eyeing Shin with curiosity.

"I didn't think you much liked him," he pointed out quietly.

"I neither liked nor disliked him; I was never really given the opportunity to get to know him. Frei'drich worked with him more than me, and all he could say was that Imakarum came across as…driven," he said delicately.

"Heh, yes, driven would pretty much cover it. So why do you care if he lives or dies?"

"Because whatever else, he is loyal, and our Lord cannot afford to lose any more of the faithful," Shin said, watching the older mans reaction.

"Indeed, we are distressingly thin on the ground right now," Balkus agreed, his attention already back on the control metal.

"What about his mother, is she still alive?"

Balkus's hands stilled once more, a sensor half connected to the control metal, and he slowly looked up at his friend.

"Stop fishing Shin, it doesn't become you. If you have questions, ask them directly. First, answer one for me, what exactly did Archanfel tell you?"

"That he is his father, that he had always intended for him to be one of us, but not this soon. He told me to ask you any further questions I might have, but…it is a shockingly hard subject to bring up, even with you," Shin admitted.

"Very well, his mother died the day he was born; she was never anything more than the most genetically compatible volunteer anyway. I don't know much about how it was arranged; I suspect he used people he could afford to kill to keep the secret. I know she worked for Chronos, in one of the labs here in Japan, I also know that there was no physical contact between Archanfel and this woman at all, it was all done quite clinically."

"So how did you come to deliver him?"

"There were complications; she was still working when she started to bleed 12 weeks before she was due to deliver. I was in the medical section, overseeing the testing of some prototypes, when she was brought in. Even then, I would have had nothing to do with it, but Archanfel arrived, he knew Shin, knew the moment his unborn son's heart began to falter. He commanded that I do whatever it took to save his son, so that is what I did. The woman who had carried the boy died, not through anything I did, oddly, the hemorrhage she had already suffered was more than sufficient to kill her, and frankly, I expected the child to die too. He was 12 weeks premature, weighed barely 1500 grams, and had been through a traumatic delivery, had nearly died in the womb…" Balkus trailed off, lost in the memories of that day, he hadn't thought about it in years.

"Clearly he didn't die though," Shin prompted.

Balkus smiled faintly, looking back down at the control metal, automatically starting to connect the sensors once more.

"One of the nurses took him, and the next thing he's screaming like a banshee. She whisked him off to intensive care, and I remained to help Archanfel _deal _with the medical staff, and that was the last I saw of him for sixteen years, not that I really gave him much thought," he admitted.

The door opened then, and a man hurried in, clad in the purple and white of a soldier.

"My Lords, forgive my intrusion, but Guyvers 1 & 3 have been seen heading this way," he barked, stiffening to attention.

"Sound the alert, I want _every _possible entrance and exit covered by doubled troops," Balkus snapped.

"Yes sir," he saluted, hurrying out.

"They must have found out that Guyver 4 is dead by now, they will be aiming to retrieve this," Shin said, looking down at the control metal.

"Well, they're not getting it," Balkus said, starting to pull the sensors off again, equally carefully, but much faster than he had put them on. He put the disk into a fresh transport case and thrust it into Shin's hands.

"Get this out of here, now," he said.

Shin looked down at the box, and shook his head, handing it back.

"I'll stay, you take this, you're the one that will be needed to recreate the Guyver, and you're the one he will need to keep his son alive. Go on, old friend, I'll catch up with you later," Shin said.

"See that you do, Shin," Balkus sighed, taking the case.

He hated the fact that the younger Zoalords kept trying to keep him out of the battles, but in this instance, he really couldn't argue with Shin's logic. He left as the first explosion echoed around the building, hoping that the Guyvers would focus on doing damage and looking for the control metal, and that they wouldn't go after Shin, because Shin had been right earlier; Archanfel could not afford to lose any more of the faithful.


	2. Chapter 2

Sho and Makishima hovered above the abandoned refinery, surveying the rusting buildings and the weeds forcing their way through the concrete.

'_Are you sure this is a Chronos base, Makishima? It doesn't look much like anywhere they have used before,' _Sho sent along the Guyver link.

'_This is where my spies indicate Imakarum came after the battle with your Guyver 4. You asked me to come back from America to help you get the control metal back, but if you're going to question my Intel, then I can leave again,' _Makishima sent back impatiently.

Sho bit his tongue to keep silent, anything he could say to that would probably degenerate into an argument, and this wasn't the time or place.

'_Where do we go in? I don't read any heat signatures, no sign of movement and no signs of life,' _he finally sent.

'_They're probably underneath; I can't read anything under the level of the buildings floors. We check out the main building first, there must be an entrance inside one of the structures,' _Makishima told him, mollified by Sho's apparently backing down.

They set down and cautiously entered the main plant building, both alert for any sign of an attack. Inside, the building was a maze of rusting machinery and pipes, along with half shattered banks of computers that would have once run the machines.

'_This is definitely the place, it looks derelict, but the building is structurally sound, and there is no indication of vermin, something must be stopping them coming in and making themselves at home here,' _Makishima mused.

They moved through the machinery, scanning for any indication of an entrance into an underground base.

/x/

Shin watched on the screen that monitored their two intruders, leaning back in the chair as he directed more troops toward the entrance they were most likely to find on their current search pattern. His eyes flicked over as another screen lit up, and he saw Balkus, now standing in one of the labs that Shin recognized as the American section, de Galenos standing silently in the background.

"What is the situation Shin?"

"They're still in the refinery, but I estimate they should find access point D in the next few minutes," Shin replied.

"I have communicated with our Lord Archanfel, he instructs that you should stay and direct the battle for as long as you can, but you are to take no risks, he wants none of us to directly battle the Guyvers at this time. If either of them gets too close to your position, you are to depart and join me here," Balkus ordered.

"Understood, Elder Balkus," Shin nodded, his eyes flicking back to the other screen as Guyver 3 figured out that the floor of the office at ground level was an elevator. Instead of looking for the controls for it, the two Guyvers started blasting at the floor to gain access to the shaft.

"They're in," he reported.

"Then I shall stop distracting you. Be careful, Shin," he sighed.

"I will see you soon," Shin assured, having no intention what so ever of disobeying Archanfel's command to leave if the Guyvers got too close.

/x/

Sho and Makishima plummeted down the newly revealed elevator shaft, they knew that is was unlikely that Chronos didn't know they were coming even before they blasted their way in, but there was still a chance to get the drop on any Zoanoids that might be waiting.

'_What if Imakarum is still here?' _Sho asked.

'_Then I damn well make sure of killing him this time. You just worry about your part, find the labs and get the control metal back, you let me worry about taking out whoever is in charge here,' _Makishima snapped.

They tore out of the shaft in that moment, vibro blades cutting immediately through the front ranks of the massive Zoanoid force that was waiting. They separated instantly, Sho splitting to the left, and Makishima going right, the Zoanoid force splitting behind them, trying to slow them down.

/x/

Shin continued to watch, now alternating his attention between two screens, one showing each of the Guyvers. He assessed that Fukamachi was heading for the lab area, obviously hoping to get the control metal back out of Chronos's possession, but Shin judged him insignificant at the moment, the labs were evacuated, there was nothing there for him to find now. Guyver 3 on the other hand seemed to be searching for the base commander, and Shin wondered if he thought Imakarum might still be here, Guyver 3 definitely seemed to have developed quite a grudge against the youngest Zoalord.

Shin began filtering more Zoanoids in after Makishima, he had no illusions that they could defeat Guyver 3, they were all standard class after all, but they would hopefully slow him down, with a bit of luck distracting him enough to injure him.

There was no further reason for Shin to stay, so he flicked a switch on his desk, programming the security parameters for the room, and then teleported to join Balkus and de Galenos in America.

/x/

Makishima cursed as more Zoanoids poured into the corridor both ahead of him and behind him. He was fairly certain that there had to be a Zoalord controlling them.

"Imakarum, get out here and fight me," he roared up at the security camera in the corner of the corridor.

There was no response at all from Imakarum, or whatever Zoalord was in charge here, and Makishima snarled in annoyance, fighting even harder, it seemed like every Zoanoid in the base was trying to get into this corridor now.

'_Fukamachi, have you managed to get near the labs yet?'_

'_Yes, I met hardly any resistance, but there is nothing at all here, it looks like they've cleared out.'_

'_Try and get back to me, there may be something of interest here, considering the number of Zoanoids I'm coming up against. No sign so far of Imakarum, but someone is in command here," _

'_We came for the control metal, it isn't here. Maybe we should pull out,' _Sho suggested.

'_We can't be sure that it isn't here until we know what these Zoanoids are trying to stop me getting to,' _Makishima pointed out.

'_I'll get there as quickly as I can,' _Sho sent back with a mental sigh.

He had a feeling that there was nothing at all of interest here, that whoever had been here was playing games with them, making them run round in circles, but there was no point in disagreeing with Makishima now, he would probably still need to have his help if he was going to get the control metal back before Chronos managed to use it.

Sho moved at top speed toward where the highest concentration of Zoanoids was, assuming that had to be where Makishima was. Coming up behind the unsuspecting creatures, already building up a pressure cannon blast, he quickly let Makishima know to get out of the way, and fired straight up the middle of the corridor. Between the two of them, the Zoanoids which survived that blast quickly fell to their vibro blades and head cannons, and within twenty minutes, they were knee deep in dissolving Zoanoids, and no more seemed to be coming.

"Let's find the base commander's office," Makishima said.

Sho followed him resignedly, just wanting to get out of here now, make sure the others were all right, and see if they could find out where Chronos had taken the control metal, but knowing that wasn't an option while he still needed Makishima's spies.

They found the base commander's office without meeting any further resistance, and Makishima forced the door open, stepping inside. The room was deserted, and he stepped in boldly, striding over to the desk. Sho followed him more cautiously, scanning the room carefully.

"Uh, Makishima, wouldn't a countdown be a bad thing?" he asked, registering a lighted panel on the wall beside the door.

"What?" Makishima snapped, turning.

Sho pointed at the panel, which couldn't be clearer if it were jumping up and down waving red flags.

Security Compromised

Destruction in 30 seconds

"Out," Makishima barked, turning back from the desk.

**29**

**28**

**27**

Sho automatically kept track of the countdown in his head as they headed back to the shaft where they had entered the base.

**26**

**25**

**24**

**23**

They entered the shaft and flew back to the refinery at the top, Sho still keeping track of the time. Five seconds to get to the top, but once they were out of the underground base, they could go straight out through the roof.

Breaking free of the building, they took up stations in the air, watching the base they had just left. Fifteen seconds later, the ground below seemed to shake and rumble and fire blossomed out of the refinery from where they had broken free, along with three other places spaced around the plant, but nowhere else was there a sign of the explosion that had occurred belowground.

"They're getting smarter," Makishima rumbled as they watched fire take hold in the plant below, sirens already starting to sound as the fire engines rumbled into life to control the blaze.

"What do you mean?"

"The explosion made no impact on the surface, whatever the civilians blame the fire on, it won't be Chronos, the elevator shafts will all be buried by debris."

"Well, at least they can't blame us, this time," Sho sighed.

"Maybe, maybe not. Anyway, I've done what you asked me to do, I need to get back to my own people now," Makishima said, starting to lift higher into the sky, away from Sho.

"Wait, please Makishima."

"What?" he asked, pausing.

"Will you have your spies keep looking for them, please? Even if we can't bring her back now, we can hopefully stop Chronos from using that control metal to recreate the Guyver for their own ends."

"I'll think about it," Makishima shrugged.

"It will be just as bad for you as everyone else, if Chronos manages to bond a Zoalord with a Guyver. Do you really want to face Archanfel or Imakarum powered up like that?" Sho pointed out.

"I'll finish Imakarum any way he comes," Makishima growled, lifting further away.

He had to admit, Fukamachi had a point, it would be bad for his plans if Chronos had a Guyver. Fukamachi was getting smarter too, he was going to have to keep an eye on him, he didn't want him turning into a problem he would have to eliminate before Chronos was finished.

/x/

"Shame, I rather hoped they would be buried in the explosion, that would have inconvenienced them for a while," Shin said, shutting off the screen and walking back to where Balkus had now finished hooking up the control metal to the computers.

"They would never be so considerate," the old man said dryly.

"Where did de Galenos go?" Shin asked.

"To the South American section, there has been a whisper that Krumeggnic and bun Haiyan have been seen in the Brazilian office," Balkus said, his lip curling in annoyance. Waferdanos had been a good friend, and he hated the thought of that treacherous scum taking over his section.

"He can't take them on alone," Shin said, horrified.

"He isn't going to, he's just going to confirm or deny the rumor, and see if he can find out who else might be there with them," Balkus said, not taking his eyes off the data that was now scrolling across the screen.

"Hmm, interesting," he murmured.

"What is?"

"The comparison scan from the first time we reconstructed this Guyver from the control metal indicates that damage has started to repair itself," he replied.

"I thought that the control metal was the one part of the Guyver that couldn't regenerate?" Shin asked.

"Hmm, perhaps it just takes so long that no one realized it could. After all, until very recently, I didn't think a damaged Zoacrystal could be regenerated," Balkus mused, more to himself than Shin.

"So how long do you think it would take to regenerate completely?"

"Longer than we have, the scans indicate that the damage has reduced by 10%. However, it does suggest that were Archanfel to be cautious, make sure it didn't take any further damage, it would regenerate completely in a few years," Balkus said, tapping a few keys on the computer.

"Do you really think our enemies will allow him to be that careful?" Shin asked.

"We will make sure we are always at his side in battle."

"How long will the Guyver take to regenerate?"

"Six months. During that time, if we try to stay below the radar of our enemies, only fight when we have no option, and quietly build up our forces, then by the time the Guyver is ready for Archanfel, we will be ready for the battle to come."

"And Imakarum, will he be ready to fight in six months?"

"I wish I knew, Shin. I wish I knew," Balkus sighed.

/x/

Archanfel stood in the jungle, his eyes closed as the wind whipped around him, howling through the upper canopy and rattling the lower canopies and undergrowth. A portion of his mind was still monitoring de Galenos, but his Zoalord was fine at the moment, he had been there a week, and there wasn't so much as a suspicion that the traitors had noticed his presence. Now he was talking to several members of the staff from the Brazilian office who had abandoned their posts when the traitors took over, refusing to serve those who were not loyal to Chronos, and the memory of their beloved Lord Waferdanos, who had really cared about his section, and the people under him.

There was rustling in the bushes that wasn't the wind, and Archanfel's eyes drifted open, he was surrounded now by creatures that resembled Ramotiths, only taller, more muscled, with longer claws and fangs. One bigger than all the rest towered over Archanfel's slight form as it stepped forward, and even when it knelt, it was taller than him.

"I have a task for you, Ferrous," he told the Alpha of the Werolf pack that were the islands best hunters.

"The pack is at your command," it said gutturally.

None of the ancient Zoaforms on this island even remembered a time when they had been able to retake the default human form, they had lived, and bred, in their Zoaforms for so many millennia that the human form was lost, and only a handful were still able to talk, or even think, in the way they had as humans, the Werolfs, the Satyrs, and the Mermalines at the coast.

"Good, you will also pass word to the Satyrs and Mermalines. Every being on the island must be on the highest alert, I must leave for a time and I do not know when I will be back. If _anyone _other than me lands on the island, or worse approaches the temple, I require to be informed immediately. You will set your best hunters in a constant watch over the temple, they do not need to leave the cover of the jungle, no one can enter the temple without approaching from the outside. Is that understood?"

"It will be as you command," Ferrous swore, bowing low to his God.

"Questions?"

"The Lord Imakarum and the Lord Balkus, are they too forbidden to be here now?"

"The Lord Imakarum sleeps within the sanctity of the temple; it is he you are protecting. The Lord Balkus is permitted to approach the temple, but he is very, very unlikely to come here without my presence at the moment."

"We will protect him with our lives."

Archanfel nodded, watching as the huge creatures melted back into the jungle before returning to the temple as the storm that had been approaching broke. The rain started splashing onto the stones as he went inside, but the sound of the thunder soon faded away as he went into the room deep in the heart of the temple. Masaki lay on the altar, black robes now replacing the medical gown he had been wearing when he had brought him here.

"My Masaki, I have to leave you now, but don't you worry, you're being guarded by the best hunters on Sihla. They won't let Apollyon, or anyone else for that matter, get to you before I can get back here," he said, brushing the dark fringe away from his Imakarum's eyes.

"Wake up soon," he sighed, brushing a light kiss over Imakarum's forehead before leaving the room, and the temple, with a steady, determined stride.

/x/

Balkus was alone in the lab when Archanfel came in, Shin having finally gone to get some rest.

"Archanfel, how is Imakarum?" he asked, looking up from the scrolling data on his screen.

"Unchanged, he shows no sign of waking, but it has only been a week. How does your work on the Guyver go?"

"As expected, there are indications that regeneration has begun, but my estimate of six months stands," Balkus said.

"That is fine. I have ordered de Galenos back here to Alaska, he has found out what we need to know, for the moment. The staff members he found who left their posts because they remained loyal and refused to serve the traitors will also be coming," Archanfel said, walking over to look down at the control metal, which was suspended in a small tank of growth medium, connected to dozens of sensors.

"Is that crack getting smaller?"

"Yes, the damage has been reduced by 11% in total, I believe if you are careful, after it is bonded to you, then in time it will fully repair itself."

"Interesting," Archanfel nodded.

"Our spies reported in on the Guyvers this morning, they're still looking for us, for that, but they are nowhere near to finding us as yet, and Guyver 1 remains in Japan," Balkus told him.

"Good, and have they located the base of the Zeus Thunderbolts yet?"

"Not at this time, they have narrowed it down to Colorado, but so far they haven't been able to get the precise location of the base."

"Hmm, tell them that locating the base is a primary objective. We need to cripple their ability to produce those damned Liberatus of theirs," Archanfel said, turning to face him again.

"Yes, Archanfel."

"And those we have seeking Apollyon, what have they found?"

"Nothing thus far, he seems to have gone to ground completely."

"Damn it, I want those Zoacrystals back," Archanfel growled.

"Well, at least we know he can't use them, if that is what he intends," Balkus pointed out.

"Yes, but if he destroys them trying to use them, then they are no use to us either." Archanfel pointed out.

"Hopefully it won't come to that."

Archanfel glanced upwards then, toward the ceiling.

"de Galenos has arrived, I will go and receive his report. Do not work too late old friend, you need to rest too, you know."

"I will retire for the night soon, I am nearly at a suitable stopping point," Balkus said.

"Good," Archanfel nodded, leaving the room to go and meet de Galenos.

The big Zoalord seemed agitated when Archanfel reached the room where he waited.

"What is wrong?" Archanfel asked.

"There was something I learned just before we left, I did not want to tell you via telepathy, or an unsecured radio transmission."

"What is it?"

"One of the men who came with me was from the medical department, he told me about a man who came with the traitors, badly scarred from burns, but he recognized him none the less. My Lord, Richard Guyot is alive, and with the traitors,"

"Guyot?" Archanfel hissed venomously.

He had thought he at least was dealt with, but it seemed that he would have to make sure next time.


	3. Chapter 3

Apollyon hovered high in the air, looking down at the small, whirlpool enclosed island far below. For the last six months, he had been picking up a stationary Zoacrystal signal from here, it had never moved, and never varied in intensity, so he had assumed it was an unattached crystal, and he would be able to come and retrieve it after he had dealt with the rest of the Zoalords. Now though, the signal had shown an increase in intensity, and he was curious.

"Intriguing," he murmured, seeing the whiteness of the temple at the center of the island.

He dropped down, landing at the top of the steps and turning to survey the jungle.

"Very interesting, I wonder what we have hidden away here," he mused.

Unaware of half a dozen pairs of yellow eyes watching him from inside the tree line, Apollyon turned and started to cautiously make his way inside the temple.

/x/

Archanfel, Shin and de Galenos were watching Balkus making his final tests on the reconstructed Guyver unit when Archanfel stiffened, a curse escaping his lips.

"Archanfel?" Balkus queried.

"Apollyon has found him, he has found Masaki," he snarled.

He hesitated for half a second, he couldn't go against Apollyon alone right now, but taking the others would strip away the last of his privacy. It didn't take much contemplation though, he wasn't going to lose his son to Apollyon now, and Masaki had yet to wake up.

"All of you, with me. Shin, de Galenos, focus very closely on Hamilcar and I, you have never been to our destination before."

The others rose, moving into position to teleport, and the four vanished in swirls of color.

/x/

Apollyon reached the heart of the temple, stopping in front of the door carved with the symbol of the creators.

"Well, this gets ever more interesting," he whispered, stroking gloved fingers over the carving.

The door slowly opened at his touch and he stepped inside, his eyes immediately going to the still, dark figure on the altar. He thought it was a painted sculpture until he moved close enough to see that the figure was almost imperceptibly breathing. This fascinating creature was the source of the Zoacrystal energy, he realized, so he had to be a Zoalord, but Apollyon had never seen anything like this, what looked to be a near perfect state of suspension without any apparent technology.

"Beautiful," he mused, gloved fingers reaching toward one finely boned cheek.

"If you touch him, you will not leave this island alive."

Apollyon's hand stopped at the arctic tone in the soft warning. He turned, already preparing to fight whichever Zoalord had discovered him in this chamber, but paused at the sight of four Zoalords, and six huge Zoaforms with long claws and dripping fangs.

"You must be Archanfel, I have been looking forward to meeting you since I arrived here, but I had hoped you would have the courage to face me, one on one," he taunted the elfin man.

"Our time to battle will come, but there will be no fighting in this sacred place."

"And if I choose to fight here and now?"

"Fight the four of us and six of them? You do not strike me as such a fool. Leave this place, now, do not ever set foot here again," Archanfel warned.

"What if I do return?"

"Then I will know, and we will return, and you will not get another warning."

Apollyon tilted his head slightly to the side, nodded slowly.

"Fine, you win, this time. Next time we meet; do not expect me to back down so easily. You are not the only one who can bring reinforcements," Apollyon sneered.

He swept out of the chamber, walking between the others without hesitation.

"Make sure he leaves," Archanfel said over his shoulder to Ferrous.

The Alpha bowed slightly and led his pack mates out of the room as Archanfel moved to the altar, brushing the backs of his fingers over Imakarum's cheek.

"Hamilcar, he feels warmer, check him over," he ordered.

Balkus moved to take his place at the side of the altar, and Archanfel moved back to where Shin and de Galenos stood.

"If I may ask, my Lord, what is this place?" de Galenos asked, looking around the large, bare room.

"This is my temple, it is where I slept for millennia while the world healed and grew and changed around me. My retreat, which until today, only Hamilcar, Masaki and I knew about," Archanfel said.

Shin kept silent, Balkus obviously hadn't admitted to Archanfel that he had told Shin and Frei'drich about this place once, and it didn't much matter now, Archanfel himself had brought them here.

"So you brought Imakarum here because not even we knew about it, never mind our enemies?"

"Not precisely, Shin, you may tell him, it is rather unfair that he is the only one of the five of us who doesn't know who Masaki is," Archanfel told the other man as Balkus called him back to where Imakarum lay.

"What is it that I do not know?" de Galenos asked.

"Imakarum is our Lord Archanfel's son," Shin said simply.

The bigger Zoalord's eyes widened with surprise, and then he smiled faintly, and nodded.

"I had wondered what was between them, they did not act like lovers, and yet there was a depth to their interactions that spoke of Imakarum being more than simply one of us," he rumbled.

Over at the altar, Archanfel was waiting for Balkus to finish checking Imakarum's pulse at the wrist.

"You are correct, he is warmer. There is also an elevation in his pulse and respiration, I believe that he is close to waking," Balkus said, setting Imakarum's hand back down on the stone.

"That is probably what drew Apollyon here now. The rest of us are based in a reasonably densely populated area, our signatures are covered, but isolated here, Masaki's energy signature probably would have stood out. While it was constant, and low, it was of little interest to him, he was more interested in trying to figure out where the rest of us were, but the change in the signal would have made him curious," Archanfel sighed.

"What are you going to do with him now?"

"Move him, even if he weren't starting to get closer to waking, he would no longer be safe here now that Apollyon has found this place. He remains with us from now on, no matter what."

"That could be just as dangerous, if we come under attack," Balkus counseled.

"I know. Once I have bonded to the Guyver you have reconstructed, we can start focusing on trying to get one of the other two, so that Masaki does not get forced into such a sleep again," Archanfel said.

"Well, provided he does nothing foolish, he should be able to avoid it for some time," Balkus said.

Ferrous came back into the chamber, alone now.

"The intruder has left the island, my pack mates have gone to tell all of the other inhabitants to be alert to ensure he does not return," Ferrous reported.

"Good, we will be removing Lord Imakarum from the temple now, so that we can monitor him more closely, but I do want to know if he or anyone else comes back here."

Ferrous nodded and loped out again as Archanfel lifted Imakarum from the altar, carrying him over to where the others stood before the four of them teleported back to Alaska, leaving the chamber empty once more.

/x/

Sho looked up, startled, as the door to his bedroom opened without the courtesy of a knock. He was less surprised though, when he saw Makishima leaning casually against the doorframe, half glaring at him.

"I didn't know you were back in Japan," Sho said, closing the book he had been reading, and rolling into a sitting position.

"Flying visit, I think we found the Zoalords," Makishima said, shrugging negligently.

"What? Where?" Sho demanded, springing to his feet.

"Somewhere in Alaska, once we get there, we should be able to narrow it down."

"Right, lets go," Sho nodded, striding forwards, but pulling up when Makishima didn't move out of his way.

"What now?" he asked.

"Not that I personally give a shit either way, but are you planning on letting the others know you're leaving?"

Sho cursed softly, and hurried back to his stuff, grabbing a sheet of paper and a pen. The others would flip when they came back from shopping to find him gone like this, but now that they finally had a lead, there was no way he was waiting.

"Where exactly are we heading?" Sho asked.

"Anchorage, Griselda and a number of Liberatus are going to be meeting us there. Once we join up with them, we can make an exact search plan."

Sho nodded and finished scrawling the note, leaving it on his bed before hurrying back to where Makishima stood.

"Are we going or not then?" he asked.

Makishima snorted and led the way out of the small apartment building Sho and the others were currently holed up in, leading him to a secluded area of the garden before the two of them summoned their Guyvers and took to the air, both silent as they headed at their top speed to Alaska.

/x/

Archanfel stood in the sealed, secure room, looking down at the Guyver unit he held in his hands. Now that the moment was here, he was oddly unsure that he wanted to do this, concerned that something would go wrong. Finally steeling himself, he hit the control metal in the center of the unit, hard enough to trigger it, but not to damage it further.

Shin, Balkus and de Galenos watched through an observation glass high above the floor where Archanfel stood, all of them jumping slightly as the tentacles of biomatter burst free of the unit, crawling over their leader.

"That is most unpleasant to watch," Shin rasped, his throat dry and his heart in his mouth as Archanfel threw his head back, crying out as the tendrils started to find their way inside him, the armor starting to form over his body.

"I don't imagine it is very pleasant from that side either," Balkus said dryly, sighing in exasperation as the comm. panel beside his screen began to bleep.

"I said I did not wish to be disturbed, I am extremely busy," he snapped, flipping the switch.

"I am sorry Doctor Balkus, but…_damn it, get more hands in here, he's going to hurt himself,_" the volume of the voice changed as the speaker turned away from the comm. for a moment.

"What the hell is going on?" Balkus demanded.

"Lord Imakarum just started convulsing, violently. All his readings have gone absolutely insane, pulse, blood pressure and respiration is off the charts, and we can't get an accurate EEG, his brainwaves keep going off the scale."

Balkus glanced down into the lower room, where the new Guyver now hung still in mid air, apparently unconscious as unit and host struggled to find their balance, and he felt his blood turning to ice in his veins.

"Start him on neuro dampers and psi suppressants, now. I want you to induce a full coma, push him as deep as you can without endangering his life. I will be there in a few moments," he said, cutting the contact without waiting for a reply.

"What's happening?" Shin asked.

"I never even thought…we just shredded his telepathic link to Archanfel. It has been part of his mind, one way or another since before he was born, and we just tore it apart. He's going into psychic shock, but it sounds like he's trying to reestablish the link, which is not going to happen while Archanfel is like that. You two monitor Archanfel closely, as soon as there is an indication of consciousness, and you are sure it is him and not the Guyver, tell him we need him in Imakarum's room. We have to repair that link," he said, hurrying from the room.

/x/

Sho and Makishima managed to catch themselves just before they plummeted into the sea, both of their minds ringing from the power of the activation they had just felt.

'_We're too late, they just activated a Guyver' _Sho sent, not trusting himself to speak, his teeth were tightly gritted. He didn't know if it was possible for him to throw up inside the armor, and he didn't want to know.

'_No, really? What gave it away?' _the sarcasm in the mental reply came across loud and clear.

'_Makishima…'_

'_It doesn't matter, they have a Guyver, we have the Guyver Gigantic. It will just make the fight more interesting,' _Makishima interrupted him, quickly regaining his lost altitude.

Sho followed a little more slowly, not sharing Makishima's confidence. The Guyver Gigantic had been made to fight Archanfel, yes, but if it was Archanfel who had the Guyver? He was worried that Makishima's arrogance would be the undoing of both of them.

The two of them flew the rest of the way to Anchorage in silence, Sho lost in his thoughts, and Makishima not caring one way or the other about whether or not Sho wanted to talk to him. Finally the snowy landscape came into view, and Makishima slowed.

"We are meeting Shizu in a motel at the edge of the city, we will set down now and unequip the Guyvers," he said curtly, not waiting for any kind of acknowledgement from Sho.

Sho ground his teeth and followed him down, landing beside him in a deserted alley, he shivered as his Guyver peeled away, wishing that Makishima had warned him that it would be this cold so that he could have picked up a jacket.

"This way," Makishima said, striding off without looking back to check if Sho was following him.

Sho seethed slightly at being expected to follow like some obedient puppy, Makishima had always been a little bit up himself, but it seemed that since the battle at Mt. Minakami, he had turned into an out and out bastard. For the first time, he found himself genuinely glad he and Makishima no longer operated on the same continent for the most part, he was beginning to truly doubt the older man's motivations.

/x/

Shin and de Galenos leaned toward the glass as the armored figure below settled to the floor. The armor seemed to have adopted an appearance somewhat similar to Archanfel's own battle form, the color more golden than the original mustard yellow, with a purple underbody. The head crest and broad shoulders appeared to be almost feathered, and there were two vibro blades on each arm. Shin touched the comm. control to connect to the room below.

"Archanfel?" he asked cautiously.

The armored form tilted its head, seeking the source of the voice, and the Guyver began to rise to hover level with the glass.

"Archanfel, can you hear me?"

The Guyver's hands were extended out in front of him a moment later, and the alarms started shrilling, registering a pressure cannon build up. The Guyver had regained consciousness first, and thought it was imprisoned, Shin realized.

"Archanfel, you must wake up, you must gain control," he said urgently, glancing at de Galenos as the bigger man threw up a barrier around the two of them.

"Archanfel, wake up. Your son _needs_ you," he yelled.


	4. Chapter 4

Shizu opened the door to the motel room before Makishima even had chance to knock, indicating that she had been watching for their arrival quite closely.

"What is it?" Makishima asked as soon as they were inside the rather seedy room, with the door shut behind them.

"There have been Zoanoids in the area, we aren't sure if they're looking for something in particular, or just happened to be here," she said.

"How many?" he asked.

"Half a dozen, not enough to indicate there could be a base in the vicinity, but enough they could be looking for us, if their spies told them we were coming this way. The two Liberatus squads are setting up a camp in the mountains at the moment, far enough away that no one should pay them any attention at all," she said.

"No hints yet on where they might actually be?"

"No."

"Damn. They activated a Guyver unit; both Fukamachi and I felt it when we were on our way here. No strange energy readings reported?"

"Nothing," she reiterated, shaking her head slightly.

"All right, after dark we head out to where the Liberatus are camped, and start figuring out a search pattern. We have _got _to find them," Makishima said, dropping down on one of the beds and folding his hands under his head, shutting his eyes.

Shizu smiled slightly at Sho and gestured vaguely around the small room.

"Make yourself comfortable Sho, it will be a couple of hours before dark," she said.

"Thank you," he nodded, taking a seat at the small, rickety table near the window. At least Shizu still seemed to be nice, he mused.

/x/

Shin and de Galenos flinched involuntarily as the pressure cannon blast was hurled in their direction, both feeling immense relief when the blast hit the observation window and merely cracked it. The room had been originally constructed to contain a Guyver, but not one as strong as this one now was.

"That window isn't going to take another blast," Shin said quietly.

de Galenos simply nodded and focused on reinforcing his barrier around the two of them, shutting everything else out.

"Archanfel, you must wake up, gain control, Imakarum needs you," Shin tried again as another pressure cannon blast started to build.

"He does not call him Imakarum," de Galenos pointed out through gritted teeth as he poured every scrap of energy he could into the barrier.

"Damn it, you're right, he doesn't," Shin mentally kicked himself for not recalling that.

"Archanfel, please. You must gain control, for Masaki."

That seemed to spark a connection in the Guyver on the other side of the glass, the armored head tilted again, and the control metal started to glow gently.

"Masaki?" Archanfel asked faintly.

"Archanfel? Are you in control?" Shin asked urgently.

There was another long pause, and then Archanfel spun away from the glass, throwing the pressure cannon energy harmlessly down in the direction of the floor below him.

"You said something about Masaki?" Archanfel asked a little uncertainly as he turned back in their direction, un-equipping the armor as he spoke.

"Elder Balkus needs you in Imakarum's room, immediately; there was a problem, just after you activated the unit. We have been waiting for you to regain consciousness.

"Move away from the glass," Archanfel ordered, golden energy building up around his hand.

They both obeyed quickly, and as soon as they were clear, Archanfel threw the ball of energy at the window, finishing the job the pressure cannon had started, stepping through the now empty space.

"What kind of problem?" he asked, automatically reaching for his link to his son. He reeled as he hit the void of the drug induced coma and mind blindness that Masaki was in, still feeling in that echoing darkness the taints of raw agony and sheer terror.

He slowly became aware that his knees had buckled, and that he was being held upright by Shin and de Galenos.

"Archanfel, are you all right?" Shin asked worriedly.

"Yes, _I _am. I have to get to Masaki, now."

"Can you stand?"

"Yes," Archanfel said, pulling away from their support and striding toward the door.

Balkus looked relieved to see him when he strode into the medical room.

"I am sorry, Archanfel, I didn't think…didn't recall that your link to his mind was so much deeper, more permanent than the links you had to the rest of us," Balkus said in a low voice.

"The fault is just as much mine, Hamilcar, I didn't think about it either. As long as Masaki doesn't pay too high a price for our oversights, I see no need to dwell on it," Archanfel sighed.

"The doctor who was monitoring him called me immediately when he went into convulsions. He was put into the artificial coma and under psi and neuro suppressors in less than two minutes; the psychic shock didn't have time to do any damage. The link needs to be repaired quickly though, and we must find a way to shield it so that this does not happen every time you summon the Guyver."

"Hmm, the Guyvers are telepathic too," Archanfel pointed out.

"Yes, but their telepathy does not seem to be compatible with ours," Balkus reminded him.

"I know that, but the unit is supposed to be versatile, it should be able to broaden the telepathic frequency it uses to include ours. We can try, anyway. If the Guyver itself can maintain my link with Masaki, it would be better than anything else we could come up with to shield it. Start bringing him out of the coma, we need to get the link reestablished as soon as possible, either way," Archanfel ordered.

Balkus nodded and started injecting the antidotes to the drugs that had been used through the IV port as Archanfel stepped back from the bed, summoning the Guyver once more. He fell into silent communication with the other life form, quickly getting used to the fact that it didn't think in the same way people did, but communicated in concepts, and feelings, while still being able to _understand _his thoughts, even if it could not respond in kind. He could feel the curiosity in it, over his concern for Masaki, and he tried to convey the idea of what had happened, the need for a protected telepathic conduit.

Finally he felt understanding, and consent, even as he sensed the telepathic links to his other Zoalords slide back into place, dimmer and not so clear, but he thought that would come in time, and hopefully it would be enough to prevent further damage to his son until then.

Archanfel dismissed the armor back into subspace once more, and looked back to Balkus.

"Is he close enough to surfacing yet?"

"No, it will be at least thirty minutes before he returns to a level of consciousness where it will be safe for you to enter his mind. While we are waiting, I think perhaps it is time to examine you, so that we may be sure the Guyver has truly repaired the damage to your body."

Archanfel was reluctant to leave the room while his son was still mentally vulnerable this way, but there was nothing they could do in here at the moment, and he would be better served getting this out of the way now.

"Fine," he said, allowing Balkus to lead the way to another examination room.

/x/

Makishima woke immediately when Shizu touched him lightly on the shoulder.

"Its time," she said simply.

"Good," he said, rolling off the bed.

"Are you coming, Fukamachi?"

"Yes," Sho said blandly, looking away from the window, where he had been staring out at the fading light, and rising from the chair.

He had come to a decision while he had been sitting there, this would be the last time he would work with Makishima, regardless of whether they found the Zoalords here or not. He was beginning to think more and more that he and Makishima were actually working toward completely separate goals, and he wasn't sure that the limited information that Makishima shared with him was worth it. For now though, they were working together, and he would just have to hope for the best.

They walked out of town, waiting until the lights faded away behind them before summoning their Guyvers. Makishima opted to carry Shizu rather than have her waste energy transforming into her battle form unnecessarily.

"Where are they camped?" he rumbled.

"North, five miles," she told him.

He took to the air, followed a moment later by Sho, and they took flight in the direction she had indicated. They quickly saw the light of a large camp fire, and surrounding its warmth, ten five man tents. There were shadows moving through the trees in the darkness, Sho's sensors identified them as people.

"Something must have happened, they're awfully active down there," Makishima mused, losing height.

"There are Zoanoids, other than ours," Shizu said quietly, sensing them.

They landed, and one of their people hurried up.

"Boss, had an encounter with some of the local, ah, _wildlife._ There were ten of them, we think we got them all before they could report in that we were here, but I have most of the men out sweeping the woods to make sure there are no more lurking out there. We have a couple of them captive too, for questioning."

"Good, where are they?"

"Chained to trees and under guard, just outside the camp."

"Show me," Makishima ordered.

Sho silently followed as the man led them to where their two prisoners were secured tightly to massive, ancient looking trees, thick chains binding them to the trunks hand and foot, as well as wrapped around their torsos. There was blood matting their fur in places, indicating that the two Ramotiths had been injured in the fight, but not seriously enough to kill them.

"Where is the Chronos base where the Zoalords are hiding?" Makishima demanded as soon as the two had noticed the Guyvers.

One of the Ramotiths simply snorted derisively, while the other remained perfectly silent.

"Let me put it to you this way. Tell us where they are, and you will be killed quickly and cleanly. Don't tell us where they are, and we will see just how much _persuasion _you can take before you die," Makishima told them in a bored tone.

"Even if we knew where the Zoalords were, we wouldn't tell you," the one who had remained silent before snarled.

"Really? You're volunteering to go first then, just so we can confirm for ourselves that you don't know where they are?"

Sho walked away then, not needing to see this. Killing Zoanoids in battle was one thing, but to torture them to get information from them, that was a little too close to Chronos's way of doing things for his liking. He unequipped his armor and slumped down by the campfire, trying not to listen after he heard the first roar of pain.

/x/

Archanfel and Balkus went back to Imakarum's room once Balkus had satisfied himself that the Guyver had completely healed Archanfel. The doctor they had left watching over Imakarum was half way to the door when they stepped in.

"I was just coming to get you, doctor Balkus. Lord Imakarum is becoming restless, and his vital signs are starting to destabilize again," she said.

"Yes, thank you. You are dismissed," Balkus said as Archanfel stepped up to the side of the bed.

As soon as she was out of the room, Archanfel sat on the side of the bed and brushed his fingertips lightly over the contact points on Masaki's temple, getting a feel for his mind. The pain was starting to rise again, the fear creeping in too, and he could hear his breathing quickening. Setting his fingers more firmly on the contact points, Archanfel slid carefully into his son's mind, soothing out the pain and fear as he went, gently coaxing the younger mind to respond to his presence, he finally felt Masaki accepting the link and it slid back into place easily. He pulled back slowly, feeling the telepathic barriers coming up again.

Opening his eyes as he lifted his fingers away from the contact points, he smiled gently at the sight of dazed golden eyes looking up at him.

"Welcome back, my Masaki," he said softly.

"Wha' happn'd?" Masaki rasped, his mouth dry.

"Do not try to talk yet," Balkus chided him, raising the back of the bed slightly and holding out a glass of something an unpleasant shade of electric blue.

"Drink this, it will help with the headache," he ordered.

Imakarum's hand shook when he took the glass, and Archanfel reached out to steady it as he drank it down.

"That is vile," Imakarum told the older man flatly as he took the now empty glass back.

"I know, but you need it to normalize your body chemistry, you should start feeling better in a few minutes."

"I…did I pass out in the temple?" Imakarum asked, frowning slightly.

"Yes," Archanfel confirmed.

"Oh," Imakarum said, shifting a little uncomfortably on the bed.

"You knew, didn't you? You knew there was something quite seriously wrong with you?" Balkus demanded.

"Yes, the battle with Guyver 4 tired me more than it should have done, and there had been a couple of instances of dizziness. I wanted you to start working on the control metal though," he admitted.

"Idiot," Balkus said, tolerant fondness taking the sting out of it.

"How long was I unconscious?"

"Six months, you slept for six months; you need to catch up with events that have happened since that day, but not right now. For tonight, you need to rest and tomorrow, we'll see how you're doing," Balkus told him.

Imakarum nodded, already half asleep once more, and Balkus lowered the back of the bed again.

The door opened then, and Shin stepped in looking apologetic.

"Forgive my intrusion, but the Japan office reports that Guyver 1 left Japan unexpectedly, in the company of Guyver 3. Their spies searched the apartment where the group had been hiding when they were gone, and found a note from Guyver 1 to his companions indicating that they were following a lead that we here in Alaska. The Anchorage office has also just reported in, they have lost contact with a patrol they had out."

"As long as they're looking for us in the wrong place, we stay put. Have the Anchorage office send out stealth Zoanoids, I don't want the Guyvers challenged at this time, but I do want advance warning if they start to head our way," Archanfel ordered, standing up and pulling the covers over his now sleeping son.

"Yes my Lord," Shin said, bowing slightly and hurrying out again.

"Why don't we just relocate?" Balkus asked.

"We cannot keep running indefinitely old friend, and we don't need to, now that I have the Guyver. If they find us, we will fight; if they don't there is no need. I would prefer to know where _all _of our enemies are before we plan how we are going to deal with them, but to keep running from the Guyvers is rather pointless considering that we need to kill at least one of them to get the control metal from them." Archanfel said, starting for the door.

Balkus followed him silently, turning out the light as they left the sleeping Imakarum alone.

/x/

Sho looked up as Makishima, Shizu and the man who had met them when they landed returned to the campfire.

"Was it worth it?" he demanded a little bitterly. The sound of those two captive Zoanoids being tortured to death had turned his stomach.

"What's your problem, Fukamachi? Are you going soft on Chronos?" Makishima spat.

"No, but how does you torturing Zoanoids make you _any _better than them, exactly?" Sho snapped back.

"Please, this is not the time to fight among our selves. We know where we need to go now, and we should leave before they find out we are looking for them. Can you two not wait until this is over to fight about your different view points?" Shizu asked reasonably.

"You know where the Zoalords are?" Sho asked.

"Yes, still think we shouldn't have tortured those damn Zoanoids?" Makishima sneered.

"The ends justify the means? How very Chronos of you, Makishima," Sho sneered back.

"Enough," Shizu said sharply.

Both fell silent, looking at her in surprise. Neither had ever heard her tone anything less than calm.

"Stop arguing, now, or I will take the Liberatus, and go alone. Believe me, _Master _Agito, I am not bluffing," she warned.

Makishima stared at her for a moment, and then looked to where the men who had been sweeping the woods had started to filter back.

"I'm going to help the men strike the camp. We leave at midnight," he said, walking away without another word.

"Sho, I know you don't agree with Agito's way of doing things, but for just for this mission, please try not to argue with him. We don't know how many of the Zoalords are at the base in Valdez, so it would really be better if we were all to go," she said gently.

"I'll do my best, Shizu-san," he said quietly.

"Just stay out of his way until it's time to leave," she told him, squeezing his shoulder lightly before vanishing into the bustle.

The sky was just starting to lighten with predawn light when they reached the town of Valdez, the streets appearing deserted at this early hour.

"Where do you think they are?" Sho asked.

"Outside town, the mountain on the other side. I can sense a large concentration of Zoanoids there," Shizu said, her eyes a little vacant.

"Right, Shizu, you change to your battle form, lead the Liberatus to the mountain, and then I want you to find a vantage point, high enough that you will be able to sense any Zoanoids trying to climb to you in plenty of time, and behind the battle line, so we can stop any of the Zoalords getting past us to get to you,"

Sho opened his mouth to ask if it was wise to separate Griselda from the two of them, but she shot him a pleading look, silently asking him not to set Agito off again now that they were so close. He closed his mouth slowly, watching as she turned into Griselda before leading the 50 Liberatus toward the mountain, skirting around the outside of the town to try to avoid being seen.

"Fukamachi, if we encounter the Chronos Guyver, _I _will summon the Gigantic armor, do not try to fight me on that," Makishima warned.

Sho turned his back on Makishima, facing the mountain as he summoned his armor.

"Are we going, or not?" he asked coldly.

He felt the other Guyver being summoned behind him, and took to the air, heading in the direction Shizu had gone without waiting for Makishima to say anything.

/x/

De Galenos was watching the Zoanoids preparing for battle when Archanfel, Shin and Balkus came in, Archanfel and Shin wearing their battle uniforms, as was he, but Balkus still in his normal robes.

"Hamilcar, you stay in the command center, I want you to concentrate specifically on using the troops to keep the Liberatus from breaching the base, and the rest of us will deal with the Guyvers and the so called Zoalady. If you can keep Masaki out of the fight, do, but…if any of the Liberatus break through, he is better suited to fighting them than you are," Archanfel said quietly.

"Understood, please be careful, the three of you," Balkus said.

He watched as they led their troops out of the mountain base, the Hyper-Zoanoids they had spread evenly through the Standards, and then sighed, heading for the command center. He wasn't surprised in the slightest to see Imakarum already there, a dark look on his face.

"I gather you are unhappy at remaining inside," he sighed.

"What gave you that idea?" Imakarum asked sarcastically.

"Lord Archanfel wants you inside the base in case the Liberatus penetrate our defenses. He does not want you to fight unless you have to, but at least he didn't tell me to lock you up in medical until it was over," the old man pointed out reasonably.

Imakarum watched him silently for a long moment, and Balkus _knew _that he was glaring behind that visor of his, but finally he blew out a breath and nodded.

"Fine."

"Are you not going to put on your battle armor?" Balkus asked, eyeing the black jeans, boots and T-shirt the other was wearing.

"What for? Fighting in close quarters like the corridors here, the armor will only slow me down and hinder my movements. I have my old training guards here, if I need them," Imakarum said, gesturing to the side, where Balkus could indeed see the leather and steel shin and arm guards that he had used to train with the soldiers when he was in his teens.

"Do they still fit?"

"Do you take me for a complete idiot?"

Seeing one white eyebrow raise, Imakarum snorted and shook his head.

"Don't answer that," he said wryly, picking up the guards and pointedly strapping them into place as Balkus started bringing the screens up.

They revealed something of a stand off outside on the rocky, frozen mountainside. The Zoanoids and the Liberatus ranged across the pass where they were situated, while above and slightly behind them, the three Zoalords faced the two Guyvers.

"What the…start bringing up the other cameras," Imakarum said tensely.

"What?"

"The Zoa-bitch must be there somewhere; they wouldn't have the Liberatus with them otherwise. Where the hell is she?"

"Looking for another way in perhaps," Balkus said, starting to bring up every security camera they had out on that mountainside.

On the screen still covering the pass, the impasse broke when Guyver 3 fired a pressure cannon blast directly at Archanfel. The supreme Zoalord raised his barrier with a contemptuous look, easily deflecting the energy, but as if that had been the signal they had been waiting for, the Liberatus sprang forward toward the Zoanoids.

"Damn it, you find the female, I am supposed to be directing our forces in this battle," Balkus growled, shifting away from the console so Imakarum could move in, and focusing his attention on controlling the positions of the Zoanoids outside.

Imakarum winced as their forces started to fall to the Liberatus, and then turned his attention to figuring out what Griselda was up to. He couldn't believe his eyes when he found her, and convinced he had to be wrong, Imakarum scrolled rapidly through every camera surrounding the small plateau where he had located her. A wolfish grin lit his face when he confirmed it, Makishima, in his arrogance, had apparently assumed that having Griselda behind the battle lines, and apparently out of direct line of sight of the Chronos forces was security enough for her. She was undefended, and her attention was focused on directing her troops, just like Balkus's was. The old man never even noticed Imakarum walking from the room.

Shizu sensed too late the presence of a Zoalord behind her, she had no idea where he had come from, she hadn't sensed a teleport, and if they had flown, Agito would have seen them. She didn't even have chance to turn around before a strong body was pressed hard against her back, trapping her hair blades so she couldn't use them, the hard edge of a leather and metal wrist guard dug into her throat, making it impossible to draw breath, and she could feel razor sharp claws digging into her forehead, around her Zoacrystal. Instinctively, she reached up to try to pull the arm away from her throat, trying to struggle in that implacable grip, but whichever of the Zoalords this was, he was far too strong for her.

Long, dark hair fluttered at the edge of her vision, even as the arm across her throat tightened, graying her vision around the edges.

"An eye for an eye, a life for a life," that voice which was both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time hissed.

"Be grateful that you are receiving more mercy than you and Makishima showed Yentsui and Waferdanos," Imakarum growled, twisting sharply and breaking her neck at the same moment he tore her Zoacrystal from its place in her forehead.

He dropped the corpse, staring at the crystal he held, and his blood soaked claws for a heartbeat, before vanishing once more through the same well concealed entrance he had arrived on the plateau from. Really, he thought to himself, it should have occurred to Makishima that anywhere that seemed as ideal as that to him would also be equally as useful for someone else.

Down on the battlefield, the Liberatus seemed to lose their fighting cohesion all at once, and the Hyper-Zoanoids began picking them off as easily as if they had still been humans.

"What the hell?" Makishima snarled, turning in the direction of the plateau where he had left Griselda, intending to tell her to get her act together.

His mind went blank as he took in the incomprehensible sight of her crumpled on the icy rock, a bloody crater in her forehead, and her head lying at an angle. He was unaware of the scream of rage and grief that accompanied his flight to the plateau, where he crashed to his knees and pulled the body into his arms, leaving Sho facing the three Zoalords alone as the Zoanoids continued tearing their way through the Liberatus.

tbc


	5. Chapter 5

Sho watched Makishima cradling the body of Griselda, his sensors still turned toward the three Zoalords to alert him if they made a move, he didn't know what shocked him more, that Shizu was dead, gone just like that, or that Makishima had just left him to face the Zoalords alone. He dragged his eyes back toward the three as he sensed one of them moving, and he saw the golden eyes of Archanfel watching the scene curiously, slightly widened in _almost _perfectly concealed surprise.

"Nice of him to leave you at our mercy, wasn't it, Mr. Fukamachi?" Archanfel asked with a raised brow. Sho tried to detect any sign of gloating or sneering in the Zoalord's voice, but the tone was surprisingly gentle.

"I suppose you're going to kill me now that I'm on my own, like you killed her?" Sho demanded.

"She was undefended? How careless of him. We did not kill her, we have been in front of you the whole time, and I for one did not know she was there. As for you, killing you would be a last resort, Mr. Fukamachi, Lord Imakarum is fond of you, in his way, and I believe he would prefer Guyver 3's head on a platter over yours," Archanfel mused.

"So I could leave right now, and you wouldn't shoot me in the back?"

"I doubt you would believe me if I told you yes," Archanfel shrugged.

_/My Lord, beware of Makishima, he is about to rejoin the fray,/ _the familiar telepathic voice of his son brushed his mind.

_/Did you kill his female, my Masaki?/_

_/Yes,/ _he sent bluntly.

Archanfel sighed deeply, restraining himself from rolling his eyes, he could understand Masaki's desire for revenge, but he did wish the idiot child would take more care of his own safety. He put it aside for now, he could deal with his son's disobedience later, the middle of a battle, even one as un-battle like as this, was neither the time or place. He let the contact fade away and looked back to the plateau, seeing that Masaki had been correct, Makishima had laid down the body of his female, and was standing on the edge of the drop down the mountainside.

"You're going to pay for killing her," Makishima snarled, pulling open his chest plate to reveal his Megasmasher already fully charged.

"Makishima, what are you doing?" Sho yelled, realizing that the other Guyver didn't care that he was still there, he gained height rapidly, out of the path of the Megasmasher blast, while the three Zoalords simply raised their personal barriers, the destructive energy washing around them, and blowing a crater in the mountain behind them, laying open part of the base inside.

When the dust cleared, Sho could see that the three Zoalords were unharmed, and that Archanfel had taken on his battle form, the golden energy swirling around him as he looked coldly at Makishima.

/x/

Imakarum hauled himself back to his feet after the Megasmasher blast hit the base, growling softly as he glanced around, half of the screens in the room had gone dark where they had either lost power, or the cameras they were attached to. He glanced over at Balkus, who was also regaining his footing.

"What's going on outside?" he asked.

"Guyver 3 fired his Megasmasher, he was aiming at our comrades. They are unharmed, of course," Balkus said shortly, turning his attention back to the Zoanoids, finding they were pretty much unchanged from before the blast, it hadn't been aimed at them, after all.

Imakarum looked down at the crystal he still held, twisting it lightly between his fingers. He wondered if it was possible to channel his own telepathy through this thing, to take control of the remaining Liberatus, similar to the way Guyot had once taken control of his own dummy Zoacrystal. One thing he knew for sure, if he was going to do it, he would have to be in line of sight of the Liberatus, there was no way he could do something that difficult from here. He hesitated over the thought, he knew his father was already displeased with him for taking the risk of taking down Griselda, but damn it to hell, he wasn't sixteen any more, he was a Zoalord, and if he was going to be any use at all to Archanfel, he couldn't keep hiding from confrontations.

He turned on his heel, striding from the room once more, not caring that Balkus had registered his departure this time. He tried to contact Archanfel to warn him that Imakarum was up to something, but hit a mental busy signal, Archanfel was occupied. He cursed quietly for an instant, and sent the warning to Shin and de Galenos instead, telling them to keep an eye out for the boy.

Imakarum finally made it to his destination after having to re-route twice, due to damage inside the base. He supposed he could have blasted through the obstructions in the corridors, but he wouldn't want to bet good money on the structural integrity in those areas, and he didn't want to waste more time than he had to. He slid into the shadows just inside the main entrance, his eyes flicking quickly over the situation.

There were half a dozen Liberatus left, taking on the fifty or so remaining Zoanoids as best they could. He couldn't see the Guyvers or the Zoalords from this position, but he wasn't willing to break cover to see if he could locate them, he cradled the bloody crystal between his palms, feeling it start to vibrate lightly as he concentrated on it, focusing on using it as a bridge between his telepathy and the minds of the Liberatus, he tried to feel for just one of them first, knowing that once he had the feel of one, he could snag the rest fairly easily.

He got one, smirking faintly as he overpowered its feeble attempt to resist him, snatching control of it before spreading his will over the remaining Liberatus, flinching slightly as one of them died just as he established control, he spared just enough focus to send Balkus a curt message to stop killing his new toys before putting his full attention back on the task he had set himself.

He assessed the battle through the eyes of the Liberatus he had the strongest hold over, finally locating the airborne players. His father and Makishima were the only ones actively fighting at the moment, Archanfel in his battle form, tossing energy balls at Guyver 3, who was striking back with pressure cannon blasts while he waited for his Megasmasher to recharge, the pair of them taking chunks out of the mountains around them, but neither fighting full out right now, merely testing the waters. Guyver 1 and the other Zoalords were staying out of it, watching each other and the battle cautiously, but making no move to attack one another, which was good; it meant he only had one target he needed to focus on.

He forced his five remaining Liberatus into their secondary battle form, setting their Organic Heat Cannons charging as Balkus started to move the Zoanoid troops away from them without it looking too obvious. He made each and every one of the Liberatus track Makishima, it only took a few seconds for the five to be fully charged, and he fired the ten cannons simultaneously at Makishima.

Makishima sensed the blasts coming and moved quickly, not managing to avoid it completely, but not taking the full impact. He slammed into the mountainside, fury surging higher in him, how the hell had they got control of the Liberatus, they were meant to be immune to the control of every Zoalord other than Griselda, and she was gone. He had had enough of playing games now, he called the Guyver Gigantic as he got to his feet, determined to end this now.

Archanfel looked down in surprise as Guyver 3 was fired on from the ground, seeing the Liberatus now clear of any Zoanoid troops, and not attacking anyone other than Makishima, but he couldn't spare the time to contemplate that now, Makishima had called up the Gigantic, and he could not afford to have half of his mind on this battle, he gained height as the Gigantic dark took to the air again, wanting more distance between the battle and the mountain base.

Makishima fired a massive pressure cannon blast down at the Liberatus to scatter them and stop them getting an aim at him again as he followed Archanfel higher into the sky.

'_Fukamachi, keep them off my back,' _he sent sharply along the Guyver link.

'_No, the remaining Zoalords are not attacking me, and I'm not giving them a reason to do so, as there are apparently at least three of them still down here somewhere. You're nearly out of their targeting range now, and you know it,' _Sho sent back icily.

"Just you and me now, Makishima," Archanfel said idly as they slowed their climb, ending up over the icy Alaskan waters, the base lost to sight somewhere below.

"For the moment, it won't take me long to finish you off, and then I will go down, and I will kill every single remaining member of your accursed Chronos, to get to whichever one of you killed Griselda," Makishima snarled.

"We shall see," Archanfel smiled, wrapping Makishima in the energy of a Spiral Crusher.

Makishima managed to fly out of its embrace before it exploded fully, but one of his shoulder pods was sheared away.

"Is that the best you can do? Imakarum took down a building with that same move, and I beat him easily enough," he sneered, scanning around quickly to relocate the Zoalord.

"I am merely warming up," the voice came from above and behind him, but before he could turn, he was hit by a concussion wave that felt like a building falling on him, even inside the Gigantic armor.

There was no way to control his descent, and he crashed into the ocean, sinking a good 50 feet before he managed to regain control and start to push himself back toward the surface. Archanfel was waiting when he took to the air again, watching him with amusement.

"Would you like to give up now? I will offer you this one chance to leave, take the female for a proper burial," he said lightly.

"I'm nowhere near done, and I'm not Fukamachi, I'll have my revenge over anything else," he snarled, charging up the Gigantic's Megasmasher.

"That, Makishima, has always been your problem," he sighed, affecting a tone of sadness.

"I don't recall asking your opinion, now why don't you just die, and I'll get on with ripping your Zoalords apart," Makishima sneered, yanking open his chest plate and firing the Megasmasher at Archanfel.

Archanfel remained where he was, throwing up a barrier to protect him from the powerful weapon, it was hairy for a moment, and he didn't think it would hold up to a second blast, but then, he didn't intend giving Makishima a chance to get a second blast in. He couldn't afford to destroy Makishima completely, he needed the control metal from him for Masaki, but he was only going to hold back so much. With a dark smile, he summoned up his own Guyver as the Megasmasher energy started to dissipate around him.

Makishima cursed as he caught sight of the new Guyver in the sky above him, it seemed Fukamachi had been right, Archanfel had taken it. This new Guyver was easily as large as the Gigantic, and seemed to have vibration blades on the legs, as well as the arms. He couldn't really tell what color the armor itself was, the golden fire that shone around it was far too bright. The other Guyver's head beam lashed out, and he couldn't hold back a scream as it scored across his eyes, blinding him, forcing him to rely on the sensors. He sensed the pressure cannon blast coming a moment too late, and it tore through the Gigantic armor as if it were made of paper, forcing it to retreat back into subspace, but Archanfel offered him no further respite, a second pressure cannon blast was already on it's way as the Gigantic armor peeled away, tearing straight through Guyver 3's middle.

Blood sprayed from Makishima's respirators as he plummeted once more toward the water, consciousness already ebbing away as freezing salt water poured into the wound. Archanfel started to follow him down as he sank like a rock, intent on getting the control metal now, but a sense of wrongness suddenly overwhelmed him, something was wrong at the mountain, badly wrong. He snarled a number of curses that would make even an old sailor like Hamilcar blush, and broke free of the water again, dismissing his Guyver as he returned to the mountain, he didn't need it right now, and he felt a stronger telepathic link might be more important.

/x/

Sho huddled in the darkness, trying to ignore the creaking and groaning of tons of rock settling overhead, while he tried to figure out;

a)what the hell he was doing in this situation, and

b)why his companion's breathing was so ragged.

His scan of Imakarum revealed no broken ribs, or anything else that should be affecting his breathing, in fact the only injury Sho could find on the unconscious Zoalord was a gash in his temple.

There was a soft moan, and Imakarum started to shift slightly in the darkness.

"You might want to stay still, there isn't much space in here, and I don't think it will take much to bring all this rock down on us," he said quietly, wondering if the other man was actually conscious enough to register what he was saying.

"Fukamachi-kun?" Imakarum sounded thoroughly confused, well, Sho could identify with that.

"Yeah, me. I don't suppose you can get yourself out of here, can you? I can probably break free, but I think you'd get crushed by the rocks," Sho asked hopefully.

"Don't think so, think I may be concussed," was the slightly fuzzy reply.

"Stay awake, if you think you're concussed," Sho snapped sharply, hearing Imakarum's breathing start to slow and grow uneven again.

"Why d' you care?" Imakarum asked vaguely.

"I have no idea, just…stay awake," he sighed.

"What happened anyway, how did we end up here?" Imakarum asked tiredly.

"There was a Megasmasher blast, from where Archanfel and Makishima were fighting, it hit the mountain. The first shockwave threw you head on into a wall, I think, I'm not sure, but you were unconscious when I saw you. The blast destabilized the mountain, the whole lot started to come down. I was the only one who could see where you were, the other two Zoalords were in the wrong position to see you, I…I don't know why I tried to get you out of the way, but I…"

"Thank you," Imakarum said quietly, saving Sho from any more stumbling over his words, or motivations.

"It's not as if I actually managed to get you out of the way," he snorted.

"I'm not crushed, you're not crushed, we'll be fine until the others can get to us," Imakarum sighed.

"If they know where we are, and if they know there's a problem," Sho whispered unhappily.

"They do, both, they'll reach us," Imakarum's voice was starting to trail away again.

"Stay awake damn it, keep talking to me. Why did Archanfel say you were fond of me?"

"I am, I never had anyone I considered a little brother until I met you."

"You tried to kill me," Sho pointed out a little sarcastically.

"Hmm, not with any great seriousness, I needed to get a Guyver unit, but…once we lost the Remover, I didn't really want it to be yours, not like that."

"So if Archanfel ordered you to kill me?"

"He wouldn't do that, we still want you to join us," he replied candidly.

Sho snorted derisively, and Imakarum sighed softly, closing his eyes.

"There is so much you don't understand Fukamachi-kun, we are not really your enemy, not in the way you think. Most of the discord between you and us is Guyot's doing, along with Makishima's own poisoned attitude toward us, if you understood what was really going on now…"

"Then explain it to me, explain what happened to my father, and killing Shizu in the context of not being our enemy," he said angrily.

"I can't explain about your father, you would have to ask Hamilcar about what happened to him, but I said we are not _your _enemy, Makishima and Shizu, they have earned their deaths, and if I can get both by my own hand, I will. I showed Shizu more mercy than she really deserved, and more than Makishima will get, whoever kills him," Imakarum said bitterly.

"Why?"

"If someone killed Mizuki, not quickly and cleanly, but butchered her, tortured her, killed her slowly, piece by piece, with her alive, and feeling every single moment of it, what would you do?"

Sho remembered the tortured Zoanoids, and couldn't bring himself to protest that Shizu would have no part in something like that, even if Makishima would.

"They did that, to someone close to you?" he asked hesitantly.

"More him than her, but yes, they both had a hand in his death, so both had to pay the price."

"Who was he?"

"Doesn't matter, he'll be avenged, and that's all that counts. There is so much more going on than you realize, and it would be better for everyone, you included, if you would join us. Do you know why we built the Ark?"

"To help impose your will on the world."

"No, we never intended to stay here, we were to have left to find and deal with the Creators, before they came back and made a better job of sterilizing this world than they made on their last attempt, but things started to go wrong, Makishima injured me, Frei'drich died, for a while we thought he had been killed at your hand…"

"No, I was given photographic proof he was killed by three Zoalords," Sho interrupted.

"We know, the three traitors tipped their hand soon after. You killed one of them, and the other two fled into hiding, then Makishima and Griselda killed Yentsui and Waferdanos. Even that might have been something fairly easy to deal with, but the vanguard has arrived, the Creator's tool to destroy any who might resist the Creators when they arrive, us, you, anyone who might be able to stop them wiping all life from the face of the Earth. Another of us fell to him, there are not that many left now who can oppose him Fukamachi-kun, and we would have more chance if we were fighting on the same side," Imakarum told him.

"And I'm supposed to trust that you're not trying to trap me?"

"That's up to you, Fukamachi-kun, but bear this in mind, we have known where you were for months, if we wanted to harm you, or your friends, we could have done so at any time," Imakarum sighed weakly.

"Hey, don't you dare fall asleep," he snapped, realizing that Imakarum was fading out again.

"Sorry Sho, can't stay awake much longer, getting too tired."

"Damn it, the air is getting thin, that's why you're tired."

"It will be ok, they'll be through soon," Imakarum sighed, passing out.

/x/

Archanfel growled quietly, making Balkus, who was at his side look up sharply.

"What is it?"

"He _was _talking to Guyver 1, the boy was trying to keep him awake, but he just blacked out. I think the air is running out, the Guyver will be all right, but Masaki will need more air soon. We need to clear the rock fall faster. Get Shin to come down off watch, I don't think Makishima will be stupid enough to come back now, after the damage I did him, and we need all the hands we have to get through this."

Balkus obediently called Shin down from the altitude he had been maintaining to watch the surroundings to help them with telekinetically shifting the rocks before Archanfel vaporized them.

They worked for another ten minutes before they heard an alarmed yell.

"Stop, the rocks are starting to fall in, Imakarum is going to be crushed."

"There must be air coming in now, can you wake him up, and get him to put a barrier up?" Archanfel asked, levitating over close to where the voice was coming from.

"No, he's probably concussed, even if I could wake him up now, I don't think he could do it, or he would have done it earlier."

"Can you put up a barrier without summoning the Gigantic?"

"No."

"Is he pinned, or can you move him?"

"I could move him, but…"

"It will be all right, can you tell how much rock is left directly over you?"

"Maybe a meter."

"If I blast it away, can you get him out before everything falls in?"

There was no answer for a long moment, but Archanfel didn't push it, he knew this came down to Fukamachi trusting that he cared enough about Imakarum not to endanger him by doing something that would harm the Guyver who was protecting him.

"Yes," the reply finally came, he sounded reluctant but resolved.

"Good, tell me when you're ready," Archanfel told him, moving back.

"I'm ready," Sho called a moment later.

He crouched under the shifting rocks, Imakarum cradled securely in his arms; his sensors turned outward, waiting for the energy surge that would precede the rocks being blown away. He knew there would be only a split second between the rocks being blown away, and their tiny little haven caving in around them, and he had to be ready.

He felt the blast coming a moment before the rocks overhead were vaporized, and launched himself upwards as the rocks roared in behind them. He quickly landed where the Zoalords and remaining Zoanoids were standing, forcing himself not to shift nervously as Balkus swept in and lifted Imakarum away from him.

"Hamilcar?" Archanfel asked, reverting to his human form, and taking the cloak Shin offered him with a faint smile. He felt no embarrassment at all about being naked, but some of his Zoalords still had endearingly human attitudes on the subject.

"Guyver 1 was correct, he is concussed, but he is in no danger. The worst he will have is a headache when he wakes up, I think," Balkus said without looking up from his examination.

"Good. Thank you Fukamachi," Archanfel nodded.

Sho shrugged uncomfortably, and looked around the devastated mountains.

"What happened to Makishima?"

"He came off worst in our little confrontation, but I was distracted before I could finish him, he fell into the ocean. Might I make a suggestion?"

"I guess," Sho shrugged.

"Take the female and give her a decent burial, he did not seem overly concerned when I made the same suggestion to him."

"You're letting me go then?"

"I told you, killing you would be a last resort, Imakarum…"

"Is fond of me, yes," Sho interrupted with a sigh.

"Indeed."

"He…gave me some things to think about while we were under there. If I wanted to get in touch with him, at some point, how would I go about it?"

"You are aware that we have you under surveillance?"

"He gave me that impression, yes."

"Then find some way to let them know you wish to contact Imakarum, and the message will be passed on."

"Right," Sho nodded vaguely before walking away to locate Griselda's body.

"What on Earth did Imakarum say to him?" de Galenos asked as Sho took to the air with the body in his arms.

"He asked him to join us again, I think. At least he seems to be thinking about it this time. Come, we should relocate to another base," Archanfel said, watching as Balkus lifted Imakarum once more.

"Hole up somewhere, keep a sharp look out for Guyver 3, just in case he does come back. We will send a troop transport for you as soon as we reach base," Archanfel instructed the remaining Zoanoids.

They bowed low, and melted away into the mountains as the Zoalords vanished in swirls of energy.

tbc


	6. Chapter 6

Sho sighed when he entered the apartment and found Tetsuro waiting for him in the sitting room, his arms folded and a grim look on his face.

"What's wrong Tetsuro, where are the girls? Did something happen to them?" he asked in alarm, realizing there was no trace of them.

"They're out, for the moment, I wanted to talk to you," Tetsuro told him.

"What about?"

"Do you have any idea how worried we were? We were only gone for an hour, and we came back to find that you had vanished, with nothing more than a note saying you had gone with Makishima. Anything could have happened to you, and we wouldn't have known it until Chronos turned up here and grabbed us all," Tetsuro said.

"He had a lead on the Zoalords, we had to go if there was any chance of getting Guyver 4's control metal back," Sho said defensively.

"Did you get it?"

"No, they had already used it, but that isn't the point, we had to try. At least this proved to me once and for all that we can't trust Makishima anymore," he sighed, sinking down into the chair across from his friend.

"What happened?"

Sho sighed again, contemplating just how much he was ready to share with Tetsuro about events in Alaska; he knew already that he wasn't going to share his slightly surreal conversations with Archanfel or Imakarum, but the rest of it he wasn't sure what to say.

"Makishima…he tortured a couple of captive Zoanoids for information, and he didn't see anything wrong with that at all, he has become far more arrogant and inflexible than he ever was before. He got Shizu killed today, because he left her undefended, and he then left me facing at least four Zoalords alone," Sho said.

"What do you mean, at least four?"

"I could only see three, but I know there was at least one other, he took control of the Liberatus," Sho shrugged.

"That would be the one who murdered Shizu then?" Tetsuro asked.

"I…I have mixed feelings on her death, I…she…"

"What?" Tetsuro demanded when he trailed off.

"The Zoanoids I heard them torturing apparently weren't the first members of Chronos they had tortured and killed. They apparently picked the wrong person to kill, and both of them will die for it if they get their hands on them," Sho muttered.

"How do you know that?"

"I was told, and frankly, given Makishima's behavior, I was hard pressed to call them a liar."

"Chronos told you that, and you believed them?"

"Like I said, after seeing what I did, I was hard pressed to deny the claim."

"Sho…"

"Tetsuro, he left me alone facing an unknown number of Zoalords, which at one point included Archanfel himself, and they didn't attack me, in fact, the biggest danger to me at all during that time was from Makishima, who fired his Megasmasher without giving a damn that I was in its path, he could have killed me, and he didn't care, he was offered a chance to leave, to take Shizu's body and go, and he preferred to fight. I ended up having to take her, I ended up having to bury her, because he just damn well didn't care," Sho said, his voice rising as he got more and more stressed.

"Why didn't they attack you?" Tetsuro asked.

"I don't know, I certainly wasn't going to push my luck by asking," he lied without looking at Tetsuro. He pushed up from his chair and turned for the sitting room door.

"Where are you going?"

"Bed, I'm tired Tetsuro," he said dully, walking out of the room.

Sho dropped down fully clothed on his bed, folding his arms under his head, he really was tired, he did want to sleep, but he couldn't get today out of his head, he wasn't sure what had stopped him telling Tetsuro about his conversation with Imakarum, the risk of a new and even bigger threat was something he knew he should have shared, so why hadn't he? A quiet little voice in the back of his head pointed out that he was lying to himself, he knew exactly why he had said nothing, he was afraid that Tetsuro would convince him that he was being tricked, being lied to, and he wanted to believe Imakarum, he really did. He hoped he wasn't fooling himself, because as he turned over and tried to force himself to sleep, he knew that sooner or later, he was going to talk to the Zoalord again.

/x/

Archanfel stood staring out of the large window at the neon lit city, watching the people bustling about despite the lateness of the hour. There was a sharp gasp behind him, and he turned, feline eyes seeing in the darkness of the room as clear as day to the bed where Masaki was now sitting up, breathing rapidly, his fists gripping the blankets tightly.

"You're safe," he said simply, remaining where he was by the window.

Masaki jumped, his head snapping round sharply, which was a fair indication to Archanfel that he hadn't even realized there was someone else in the room with him. The two fast movements in only a few moments seemed to disagree with him, and Imakarum groaned painfully, curling forward and cradling his head in his hands as he swallowed hard at the surge of nausea from the vicious spike of pain through his skull.

Archanfel watched him silently for a moment, his annoyance at his son warring with his concern for him, he sighed softly as concern won out temporarily.

"Lie down, and don't move around too much," he said quietly, stepping over to the bed and guiding him down so that he was lying against the pillows again.

Imakarum stared up at him through the darkness for a long moment, and then closed his eyes, sighing resignedly.

"Just how pissed at me are you?" he asked.

"How pissed do you imagine I am? I told you to stay inside the base, and you disobeyed, twice," he growled, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"I knew what I was doing, the female was unguarded and completely focused on her troops, I was in no danger at all from her, and I knew I would be back inside before anyone even realized she was dead, he had parked her right outside the emergency exit after all. Even taking control of the Liberatus, I wouldn't have gotten hurt if bloody Makishima hadn't hit the mountain with a Megasmasher blast," Imakarum protested.

"That isn't the point, Masaki, I gave an instruction that was meant to keep you safe, and you disregarded it. You had been conscious less than 12 hours, I didn't want you exerting yourself unless there was no other choice what so ever."

"I'm not a teenager anymore, I don't need to be coddled," Imakarum hissed.

"No, you're not a teenager, but regardless, you are my child, and you are my Zoalord, I am supposed to be able to trust that you will obey me either way, not run off and do as you wish, putting yourself at unnecessary risk."

"She was there, and accessible, I had to take the chance to execute her when it was presented, when would such an opportunity to get her have come again?" Imakarum demanded heatedly.

"And I had a chance to finish Guyver 3, which was lost because you got yourself buried under half a mountain, due to your disobedience. Had it not been for Guyver 1, you more than likely would have been killed then, before any of us could do a thing to stop it. You're taking too many foolish risks with your life, my Masaki, and it _will _stop," Archanfel said warningly.

"What is that supposed to mean? I'm not taking risks," Imakarum protested.

"Aren't you? You went after Griselda, you took control of the Liberatus, both of which could have put you in direct conflict with Guyver 3, had he been more aware of his surroundings, not to mention the events that led up to your collapse six months ago, you knew there was something wrong and chose to do things your own way rather than consult Hamilcar," Archanfel snapped, his patience wearing thin.

"I…I just need to do whatever I can…to protect you. I…I can't lose you too," Imakarum mumbled, shifting so that he was lying on his side, his hair falling over his face in a silken veil.

Archanfel froze, staring at him blankly for a long moment, unsure if he had _ever _heard such insecurity from his son before. He sighed, letting the anger dissipate, and reached out to brush the dark strands out of Imakarum's face gently.

"Child, do you really imagine I am any more anxious to lose you?" he asked softly.

Imakarum said nothing, but shifted again, enough that he could look up at him.

"I have already had you dead in my arms once, my Masaki, and I have no desire to be in that position again, I came far too close when Guyver 3 dealt you such a critical blow. Do you remember how scared you were on the Ark, the day I woke you up, when you found me weakened, defenseless?"

"Of course, that isn't something I'm likely to forget," Imakarum acknowledged quietly.

"Then you know exactly how I felt the day you collapsed in front of me, and when I realized you had taken on Griselda alone, and when I realized that you were trapped under tons of rock," he pointed out.

"I'm sorry," Imakarum whispered.

"Just promise me you will stop taking such foolish chances, stop disobeying when I give an order that is meant to keep you safe. I know you have a mind of your own, Masaki, and I'm not looking for a puppet, but you know you are not as strong as you were designed to be right now, and until we can get a Guyver unit for you, to reverse the damage to your body, I need you to be more cautious," Archanfel told him.

"I…I promise that I will stop taking such chances, but…I can't promise to obey an order that keeps me safe if I see you in danger," Imakarum told him, no real defiance in his tone, just hint of the iron will he had inherited from Archanfel himself.

"Good enough," Archanfel agreed after a moments thought.

He leaned down and pressed a light kiss to his son's forehead, and then rose, smoothing out the blankets.

"Go to sleep, Masaki, you need to rest," he instructed softly.

"Wait, is Fukamachi-kun ok?" Imakarum asked tiredly.

"He was fine, when he left, thoughtful but fine. He took the female's body with him so that he could bury her. Go to sleep," Archanfel said again, leaving the room.

/x/

Sho sat at the window, looking out at the bright, sunlit street, wondering idly where the Zoanoids that Imakarum had said were watching were hiding.

"Sho, breakfast is ready," Mizuki said from the doorway, her tone subdued.

He glanced over at her, and saw that her eyes were a little red, he figured that Tetsuro must have told her and Natsuki about Shizu's death, he wondered a little harshly if his friend had bothered mentioning to the girls what Shizu and Makishima had been accused of by the Zoalords.

"I'm not hungry," he said, shaking his head, and turning back to his contemplation of the street outside the window.

"Sho, I know you're upset about Shizu getting killed the way she did, but you have to eat, you have to keep your strength up in case Chronos attacks," she said quietly.

He snorted softly, not correcting her assumption on what was occupying his mind.

"Sho…"

"Please, leave me alone Mizuki, I'm not hungry, I just want to sit here and think for a while," he said without looking at her again. He heard her withdraw and leaned his head against the glass, sighing deeply. He wasn't surprised to hear someone else come in a couple of minutes later.

"Mizuki is worried enough about you after yesterday without you refusing to eat too," Tetsuro told him.

"Leave me alone Tetsuro, I'm not in the mood," he said flatly.

"Sho…something else happened yesterday, something you haven't told me, I've never seen you act this weird before. What's going on?"

"God, leave me alone," Sho snapped, getting up and storming past his friend, slamming out of the apartment.

He took off at a run, not taking any notice at all of where he was going, just needing to get away from the others for a while. He eventually reached the park half a mile away from the apartment, collapsing breathlessly against a tree in the Sakura grove beside the lake. He rested his head on his knees as he tried to get his breathing under control again, before settling back against the tree trunk to stare out at the calm, flat water of the lake.

"Is he available?" he asked without turning, sensing the Zoanoid somewhere behind him.

"I can check, you want to see him now?" the voice of the Zoanoid was surprisingly young, and Sho did turn then, looking up at him. He didn't look more than 19, wearing scuffed denims and sneakers, he had dark, unruly hair and piercings up one ear, making him look like anything but a Chronos foot soldier.

"Yes, but here, or somewhere else neutral," Sho said firmly.

The youthful Zoanoid grinned and nodded, stepping back into the shadows and waiting for one of the Zoalords to acknowledge his mental signal that he needed to report. He wasn't surprised when it was Balkus who answered him with his usual irritation, and he politely passed on the message that Guyver 1 wanted to see Lord Imakarum.

"Lord Balkus is going to check if Lord Imakarum is awake, I heard he took a bit of a whack on the head yesterday," he told Sho a moment later, plunking himself down on the ground against the trunk of another tree.

"Yeah, he did," Sho nodded, smirking faintly at the understatement, half a mountain nearly landed on him, and it was described as a bit of a whack on the head.

"What's your name?" Sho asked, eyeing him curiously.

"Nagano, why?"

"Just curious, you don't look like any Zoanoid I've ever seen before," Sho shrugged.

"I wouldn't be very inconspicuous if I ran around in uniform looking like a soldier, now would I?" Nagano laughed.

"I guess not, you're who has been watching the apartment?"

"One of them, yeah," he nodded.

Sho nodded, no wonder he hadn't been able to spot them. He was startled when Nagano scrambled to his feet, leaping to attention, but quickly spotted the dark figure of Imakarum.

"Dismissed, Nagano, but don't go far, join the perimeter for the moment," Imakarum ordered.

Sho watched Imakarum as he sat down against the same tree where Nagano had been sitting, taking in the black jeans, plain black t-shirt and heavy steel toe capped boots he was wearing, coupled with the dark glasses instead of the visor, the small dressing on his temple, and the long hair being tied back at the nape of his neck it made him look almost… normal.

Imakarum snorted an amused laugh when Sho blurted that out loud, shaking his head slightly.

"I am capable of dressing normally when the situation calls for it, or when I've been up for less than an hour, besides, it's too nice a day for all that armor," he grinned.

Sho shot him a faint smile in return, but soon turned his attention back to the lake.

"I'm surprised that you wanted to see me so soon," Imakarum said gently.

"I'm kind of confused, I guess, and I was so angry at Tetsuro this morning, and I'm not entirely sure why. I haven't felt like I was standing on solid ground much since this whole thing started, but now, I feel like I'm standing on an earthquake fault line, on a tower of Jell-O. The only time I have felt remotely secure since this mess started was when you were with us," Sho admitted.

"Sho…that was because I was an adult, that's all. You had just had your father taken from you, Onuma was dedicated to Makishima and little else, I was the only adult around you who knew what was going on, and was on your side," Imakarum pointed out quietly.

"But you did care, didn't you?"

"Of course I did I still do, I told you, I look on you as a kid brother."

"Then help me, please. Help me sort out this jumble in my head, help me sort out what the hell I should be doing," Sho said intensely, looking straight at him.

"I'll help you any way I can, Sho, but what do the others have to say about this?"

"I haven't told them, I told Tetsuro about Shizu last night, that she was dead, and sort of what you had told me, about what she and Makishima had their roles in, and all he could focus on was that Chronos had killed her, I think that's all he told the girls this morning too. I didn't tell him I spoke to you in Alaska, and I didn't tell him I was going to try to speak to you today. I'm afraid he would try to convince me that you can't be trusted, and I want to decide that for myself, and I want to know more about what you said, about the Creator's tool," Sho told him.

"Don't hold out on them for too long Sho, you don't want to drive a wedge into the relationship between you and your friends, they have been with you through a lot, and you need them," he warned.

"What do you mean?"

"How do you think they will react, if they find out you've been talking to me from someone else? How do you think they will react to knowing you kept something that big from them?"

"Badly, I guess, they would probably think you had brainwashed me," he sighed.

"Exactly. I'm not going to tell you what to do about telling them, it's entirely up to you, but they won't understand if you keep it from them," he said.

"I'll think about it," Sho said, picking at the seam of his jeans for a moment.

"I should probably get back before they come looking for me, I did kind of storm out this morning," he said reluctantly.

"Go ahead then, Nagano won't be far behind you. If you want to talk to me again, tell him, and he'll let me know," Imakarum said, rising gracefully.

"When I want to talk to you again," Sho said firmly as he scrambled to his feet.

"When," Imakarum agreed with a faint smile, ruffling Sho's hair lightly.

"Go on, Tetsuro just came through the perimeter," he said quietly. Sho nodded and darted off out of the Sakura grove, heading to intercept Tetsuro so that he wouldn't see the Zoalord, and so he could apologize for being so out of sorts this morning. He still wasn't ready to share that he was talking to Imakarum yet, but the older man was right, he didn't want to lose his friends.

/x/x/x/x/x/x/x/x/

So, it's all about talking in this chapter. One relationship stronger than ever, one growing closer, but is an old one heading for a breakdown? As to Makishima, we may find out if he actually survived or not in the next chapter.


	7. Chapter 7

Imakarum raised an eyebrow when he returned to the base after his brief meeting with Sho to find the other Zoalords in the control room, all radiating a sense of tightly controlled tension as they watched the men operating a bank of monitors.

"What's happening?" he asked, tugging the tie out of his hair to let it hang loose once more, and exchanging his dark glasses for the sleek visor that a servile Zoanoid held out to him.

"Our traitors are on the move, we're making sure we know where they're heading to. We are fortunate that Guyot's presence with them forces them to adopt more mundane methods of travel, allowing us to track their transport," Balkus said, answering the question without giving it a thought.

Shin winced as he saw the youngest of their number freeze, every muscle going taut, and glanced quickly at Archanfel, seeing the golden eyes slide shut for a moment in acknowledgement of a situation that he knew had just gotten worse.

"Masaki…" Archanfel started quietly, but Imakarum was already gone, striding out of the room with his spine ramrod straight, and his jaw clenched.

"He didn't know that Guyot was with the traitors?" Balkus asked, registering the abrupt departure, and the suddenly more oppressive feeling to the already tense atmosphere of the room.

"Hamilcar, when precisely do you imagine the opportunity arose to tell him Guyot was _alive, _let alone allied with that treacherous pair?" Archanfel demanded, his tone fairly dripping with rage.

"Keep monitoring them," he growled, stalking from the room.

He paused in the corridor outside, assessing the two choices available, instinct drew him left, a certainty that an upset Masaki would have gravitated to the gardens. He smiled faintly when he was proved right; Masaki was standing on the terrace, staring out over the formal gardens that backed onto the 'research institute' that covered Chronos's presence in this city. He was gripping the stone balustrade that edged the terrace tightly enough that Archanfel could see it crumbling slightly under his fingers. He waited patiently for Masaki to speak; he knew his son had sensed his arrival behind him.

"Did you not trust me to keep my promise, if I found out that creature still lived?" Imakarum finally asked tightly.

"Nothing of the sort," Archanfel dismissed, stepping up to stand beside him, looking out over the grounds.

"You have never lied to me, and you have never broken a promise, I do not believe the continued existence of Richard Guyot would be enough to change that. There had simply been no opportunity presented to tell you; I found out he was alive a week after you collapsed, and the days since your awakening have not been exactly uneventful."

Imakarum blew out a long breath, his shoulders slumping and his head dropping forward, loosening his grip on the abused stone.

"I'm sorry, I can't believe I just acted like that," he sighed.

"I wasn't precisely overjoyed to hear that cockroach had survived Mt. Minakami either Masaki, your reaction was not unexpected," he said a touch wryly.

Imakarum snorted quietly and pushed away from the stonework to sit on one of the marble benches that bracketed the terrace.

"Why is he with them anyway?" Imakarum asked.

"What?"

"Why is he with them? They were disdainful enough of him when he was a Zoalord, or at least they seemed to be, from what I overheard them and their late and unlamented cohort muttering between themselves. What use is he to them now? You stripped him of his powers, and whatever luck enabled him to survive, he is likely little more than a Zoanoid now, a hyper at most, so what interest could they have in him?"

Archanfel tilted his head slightly, thinking over the question.

"Perhaps he had a bargaining chip, something they wanted," he mused.

His eyes widened at the same moment Imakarum's head snapped up, and they stared at each other in silence for a heartbeat

"He still has it," Imakarum said, stunned.

Archanfel nodded once and strode back toward the building, feeling Masaki fall in at his right shoulder where he belonged as they headed back to the control room. Suddenly figuring out where Guyot and the other traitors were heading took on a whole new urgency. If they were right, defeating Makishima could quickly become considerably easier.

/x/

Makishima finally made it back to the base as the sun rose over the Rockies, stumbling to his knees as he un-equipped his armor.

"Boss!" two of his men who had been patrolling the area saw him, and hurried forward, hauling him to his feet between the two of them.

"What happened? Where's Miss Onuma?" the second asked as they helped him toward the non-descript building that housed the Thunderbolts current base.

"She's dead, they murdered her," he said flatly.

"What? Did…did you bury her already?"

"No, I think they took her body, I scanned when the battle was over, couldn't locate her," he grunted, conveniently forgetting that Archanfel had offered to allow him to leave with her, Chronos had no interest in her body.

"So if we see her again, she'll be like that Murakami guy you told us about, loyal to them?"

He grunted again, looking at one of them as they got him inside, starting to guide him in the direction of his bunk so that he could rest.

"Tell Hekaring that he needs to start working on a way to replace her, we cannot afford to lose the Liberatus, not now," Makishima ordered them, dropping face down on his bunk, turning his head to glare at them for a moment as they hovered there, and falling asleep as they left the room.

/x/

Sho had returned to his window sill when they returned to the house, watching over the street. He saw Nagano come back not long after him, and smiled faintly as the young Zoanoid waved slightly before vanishing into the house across the street.

"Sho, you should come and eat some breakfast, we kept some for you and Tetsuro," Mizuki said hesitantly as she came into the room.

"I'm really not hungry, Mizuki," he said, shaking his head and turning his back to the glass to look at her.

"Sho, what's wrong? Tetsuro says you've been acting oddly since you came back," she sighed.

"What, and he sent you in here to interrogate me because he thinks I'm holding out on him?" he snapped.

He saw her flinch at his annoyance, and sighed, scrubbing his hands through his hair.

"I'm sorry Mizuki, I shouldn't have snapped. I do have something on my mind, but I'm not ready to talk about it yet," he told her earnestly.

"Sho…"

"I promise, Mizuki, I'll tell you when I have it sorted out in my head."

"As long as it isn't something that is going to come and bite us while you're thinking about it," she said quietly, walking out again.

He thudded his head lightly back into the glass, he hoped that this wouldn't come back and bite them too, he was fairly sure that Imakarum wasn't lying to him, but he wasn't ready to tell the others about talking to him yet, but holding out on that meant that he couldn't warn the others about the potential new enemy that Imakarum had told him about.

Tetsuro came in then, and Sho fought the urge to roll his eyes, wondering if they were planning to tag team him until he caved in and told them, no matter what he wanted.

"What now?" Sho asked, forcing himself not to snap.

"Come and eat breakfast Sho, I promise I won't ask you any more questions, but you have to eat."

Sho gave in, accepting the promise that his friend would stop nagging at him for his secrets if he did so. He sat down, and picked at the food Mizuki set in front of him, his mind already wandering again.

/x/

Archanfel looked over as Balkus made a softly satisfied noise.

"What is it, Hamilcar?"

"They're heading back here, to Japan," he told their leader.

"Are they insane? Why would they come back here?" de Galenos asked.

"Probably because they don't think we're here. They undoubtedly know about the battle in Alaska by now, they may assume we are still in the American section somewhere. If what Masaki and I suspect is true, they will want to get back here to retrieve the unit remover. They will likely also want to target Guyver 1, seeing him as less of a threat to them than Guyver 3."

"I'll have to warn him," Imakarum sighed from the shadows at the back of the room.

"I don't want you risking going near them alone too often, if there is a possibility that the traitors will also have spies looking for them," Archanfel warned him, glancing over.

"I wouldn't go there without him asking to see me anyway, it would breach the trust I'm trying to build with him. I will send the warning through Nagano, he seems to like him well enough," Imakarum shrugged without shifting from the corner where he was leaning.

Archanfel nodded once in acceptance of his assurance, turning his attention back to the screens, where they were now trying to assess exactly where in Japan the traitors were going to land.

Imakarum watched silently for a few more moments, and then ghosted quietly from the room, heading back to his quarters. He was loath to admit it, but the headache, the result of the previous day's concussion, was starting to settle in again, doubtlessly because he hadn't exactly rested today as Balkus had told him to, and he wasn't in the mood to have _that _conversation with the old man. He pulled the drapes before tossing his visor on the nightstand, and kicking his boots off, falling back on the mattress with a sigh. He contacted Nagano briefly, giving him the warning for Sho, and then closed his eyes, letting sleep take him back down into soothing darkness.

/x/

It was around lunch time before Nagano saw his chance to pass on the message to Sho, who was in the front garden of the house, quietly picking up some litter that had ended up in there.

"I have a message for you, from the boss," he told him, leaning back against the wall so that it wouldn't look like he was talking to Sho if anyone looked out of the window of the house.

"What message?"

"A warning really, uh I'll give it to you verbatim. Guyot is alive, he's allied with the two we have already discussed, he may still have access to the unit, and he will more than likely come looking for you. That's it."

"That's more than enough, thank you Nagano," Sho groaned quietly, knowing that he would have little option but to tell the others _that._ He just hoped he could still get away without mentioning Imakarum.

"Why didn't he tell me himself?"

"He probably only found out after you left him this morning, he didn't seem tense then, but he definitely sounded tense when he sent that warning for me to pass on to you," Nagano shrugged.

"Thanks. If we have to make a break for it, will it still be you watching us?"

"Don't know, that would be up to the boss, I suppose. You want my advice though?"

"What?"

"Lord Imakarum wants you to join them; he wants to look after you as best he can, let him."

"It isn't that easy Nagano, I have the others to worry about too, they don't even know I'm talking to him yet, let alone that I'm thinking about putting all of our lives in the hands of the Zoalords," Sho told him.

Natsuki came out then to call Sho in for lunch, she eyed the youth leaning against the wall narrowly, but he seemed to be just loitering there, there was no indication he was up to anything. Nagano was too smart to move away as soon as Sho went back inside; he stayed there for another few minutes, smoked a cigarette, and looked at his watch, acting like he was waiting for someone who was late, before wandering off, pretending to talk on his cell phone.

"You know he was a Zoanoid, don't you Sho?" she asked as he went inside.

"There are a lot of them around now Natsuki, all the people who went to be optimized after x-day have to live somewhere," Tetsuro said, hearing her comment.

"Still, it makes me a little nervous, to have them just hanging around that close to us," she said, and Mizuki nodded her agreement to this.

"Maybe it's time we started thinking about moving on again anyway," Sho said, taking the plate Mizuki held out to him.

"Why, you think they're onto our location? They would attack us if they knew where we were," Tetsuro frowned at him.

"I think they have known where we were for a long time, we're just low on their priority list at the moment. I'm more worried about Makishima knowing where we are," Sho said, still trying to figure out to tell them about Guyot.

"Makishima?" Mizuki questioned.

Sho raised an eyebrow at Tetsuro, who didn't meet his gaze.

"He's lost it, Mizuki. Shizu would more than likely have survived Alaska if not for him, and he has fallen into the mindset that torture is an acceptable method of questioning. Not to mention his attitude toward civilian casualties. I don't like him knowing where you guys are, he wouldn't hesitate to use you if he wanted something from me," he told her.

"No, he wouldn't do that," she protested weakly.

"Yes he would, he's used all of us from the start, really."

"Still, better him than Chronos," Tetsuro frowned.

"No. I…Chronos isn't the enemy they appear to be, if they were, they wouldn't have warned me that Guyot was alive, and probably still in possession of the Guyver remover," he said firmly, finally coming to a decision. Nagano was right, it would be better if they were with the Zoalords, it would offer the girls especially a lot more protection if he wasn't around for some reason.

The others stared at him, not having a clue what to do about his outburst. Tetsuro finally picked a subject to address.

"Guyot is alive?"

"Apparently, yes."

"Chronos told you this, and you believe them?"

"Yes."

"Sho, I don't believe you. How could you trust them, even a little, after everything they put us through?" Tetsuro exploded.

"See, this is why I didn't want to tell you, no matter what he said," Sho yelled back.

"What who said?" Mizuki asked, glaring at he brother to shut him up.

"Imakarum…I spoke to him yesterday in Alaska, and again this morning."

"This morning, when?" Tetsuro growled.

"In the park, I was talking to him when you got there," Sho muttered.

"He told you to tell us that you had spoken to him?" Natsuki asked, curious.

"He said that you wouldn't understand if I held out on you, that you would assume the worst, but apparently Tetsuro is going to assume the worst either way," Sho said sadly.

"Sho, after what they did to your father, what they made you do to him, how could you let them fool you this way?"

"I…I trust him Tetsuro…I don't think he's lying to me. They could have killed me yesterday, but they didn't, they didn't even try. Archanfel has the Guyver they took, he came damn close to killing Makishima, he could have taken what he wanted from me, and he didn't. All they want is for us to go to them willingly."

"I will never go willingly to Chronos," Tetsuro hissed.

"Tetsuro, please...at the very least, let me ask him to come here, so you can hear what he has to say for yourself before you decide he can't be trusted."

"No."

"I think we should, or we should at least think about it really hard before we say no," Mizuki said quietly.

"What?" Tetsuro asked his little sister in a strangled voice.

"We're a liability to Sho, you know we are Tetsuro, he has to worry about us every time he goes into battle. If he's right, and we can trust them, then that's one enemy less, and we would be safer when Sho has to fight," she reasoned.

Tetsuro's head dropped forward and he sighed, poking at his food for a moment.

"We'll consider it, we'll talk about it again in the morning," he muttered in defeat, getting up and carrying his plate away from the table to go and eat in his room, away from his friend and the girls.

"When would you have told us, if Guyot being alive hadn't come up?" Mizuki asked unhappily.

"I don't know," he admitted, following Tetsuro's example and sloping off to his room to eat his lunch away from their vaguely accusing eyes.

/x/

Imakarum woke to the comforting feeling of fingers stroking lightly through his hair. He opened his eyes slowly, looking up to see his father sitting on the edge of the bed, petting him absently as he read through a report. He shifted slightly, and Archanfel looked down at him, smiling faintly.

"How long was I asleep?" Imakarum asked, his throat feeling very dry.

"Not long, just a couple of hours. Hamilcar didn't want you to sleep too long, you need to eat something. How is your headache?"

"Manageable," Imakarum shrugged, he glanced at the report Archanfel was reading.

"The traitors?"

"They set down about five miles from the former Mt. Minakami. We've sent stealth Zoanoids into the area to try to locate them more precisely, but it is unlikely they will go undetected. It is worth a try though. Did you get your warning to Fukamachi and his friends?"

"I told Nagano, but I don't know if he has managed to pass on the warning yet. I'll check in with him later, see what's going on," Imakarum told him, finally sitting up when Archanfel untangled his fingers from his hair.

"I'm going to cut this off, you know," Imakarum told him deadpan as he padded over to the dresser to locate his brush.

"You are not," Archanfel told him, eyes widening as he followed him, taking the brush and starting to run it through the dark silk of his son's hair. Imakarum snorted, shaking his head slightly, he never had managed to figure out what the hell Archanfel's fascination with long hair was, but it was fun to tease him occasionally with the threat of shearing his off, it wasn't as if it were practical at all. He had to admit though, he did enjoy these quiet moments when his father would brush his hair for him, and his headache was almost completely gone by the time they left his quarters to hunt down some lunch.

tbc


	8. Chapter 8

Sho wandered into the dining room early the next morning, to find Tetsuro, Mizuki and Natsuki already there, murmuring together in low voices that stopped the moment he entered. He eyed them for a moment, taking in the way the three of them stared at him, and shook his head.

"You know what, I don't even want to know," he said in faintly hurt annoyance, waving his hand at them as he turned to leave the room again.

"Sho, wait a second, please," Mizuki called out.

"What?" he huffed, halting his movement toward the door, but not turning around to face them again.

"We were just talking about what you said yesterday, about hearing what Imakarum has to say, that's all," she told him.

"Whatever, I'll be in my room, when you reach a consensus," he told them, walking out.

He threw himself back down on his still rumpled bed, folding his arms over his chest as he stared up at the ceiling. It bothered him that Tetsuro didn't trust his judgment on Imakarum, after all, it wasn't _Sho's_ lack of judgment that had gotten them into this mess in the first place. He winced even as he thought that, he thought he had long since forgiven Tetsuro for picking up the Guyver that day, but apparently there was still a hint of resentment in him for it. He closed his eyes, breathing deeply to bury that resentment back in whatever pit it had crawled out of, however this morning went, going back into that room already angry at Tetsuro wouldn't help.

He got up when he heard girly giggling from the street, and wandered over to the window, looking down. There was a gaggle of schoolgirls, apparently around his own age, walking together and giggling flirtatiously at the sight of Nagano, who was out in the front garden of his house, watching the street. There was a flicker of movement as the girls finally passed out of sight around the corner further down, and two other young men, both looking enough like Nagano to be brothers, stepped out of the house, flanking Nagano as they watched the street.

Sho felt his momentary envy at the carefree school students evaporate as he watched the three, they were alert, tense, not at all like the laidback image he had got from Nagano the few times he had seen him, something was wrong, and he didn't like the feeling he was getting at all. He threw off his pajamas, and pulled on his jeans and a white t-shirt that was thrown over the back of his chair, yanking on his sneakers without unlacing them.

"Something's wrong," he said bluntly as he passed the dining room doorway, not giving them chance to answer as he yanked the front door open and darted down the path toward the street.

Nagano was already half way across the road by the time he reached the gate, his movements hurried, purposeful.

"Get back inside, now."

"What? Nagano…"

"Get back inside, and be alert. There are Zoanoids in the area, they're not sleepers, they're not volunteers and they aren't meant to be here, we're warned of any extra Zoanoid activity in the area to help us watch over you. Get back inside, we're trying to get through to the boss, or any of them we can get to let them know something's up."

"Shit," Sho hissed, looking up and down the placid looking street in alarm before turning to head back up the path.

He closed the door, flipping the lock automatically, despite the fact that it would do little good if Zoanoids found them.

"What is it?" Natsuki asked.

"Zoanoids. There are Zoanoids in the area that shouldn't be here," he told her, hurrying into the front room and over to the window, looking out.

Nagano had gone back to his own garden, and the three Zoanoids were standing sentry there, their eyes scanning the street constantly.

"I knew he couldn't be trusted Sho," Tetsuro said, coming to stand beside Natsuki in the doorway.

"This isn't Imakarum's doing, if he had decided to attack us, he would have pulled his Zoanoids back, or told them to tell me everything was fine. They did neither," he spat, turning to glare at his friend.

"Not the time for arguing here guys," Natsuki pointed out impatiently, rolling her eyes at them.

"You're right, it isn't. Tetsuro, you need to watch the back of the house, go upstairs to one of the back bedrooms, and make sure you can't be seen, Natsuki, will you and Mizuki watch the alley side of the house, you should have enough of a view without being seen from the bathroom window," Sho said decisively.

Natsuki vanished without another word to grab Mizuki, and he soon heard them hurrying up the stairs, Tetsuro on the other hand stood and stared at him for a long moment.

"I still think you're being gullible Sho," he told him quietly, before turning away and trudging up the stairs.

Sho turned his attention back to the front window, with it's view of the street, and the three tense, watchful figures across in the other garden.

/x/

Archanfel raised an eyebrow as Masaki passed the open door of his office at a run, heading for the control room, and curiosity prompted him to get up and follow. He found him leaning over the shoulder of one of the men on watch, claws out and tapping impatiently at the back of the chair, which was making the man understandably nervous.

"What is going on?" he asked in a level tone, drawing his son's attention away from the man he was terrorizing.

"Nagano just reported a Zoanoid incursion into the area of the house. They're not ours, I am concerned that they could belong to the traitors. I'm waiting for a complete Zoanoid scan of the area, and apparently, while the spies still have bun Haiyan and Krummeggnic in sight, they have lost track of Guyot, and didn't think to mention it, as they _assumed _he was still with the other two," he snarled this last part of the report, his claws automatically retracting as his hands curled into fists.

"We can deal with their ineptitude later, I will take over here, you go and get into your battle gear and move out, take de Galenos with you, I'll have our own Zoanoid troops start moving into the area," Archanfel ordered him. Imakarum nodded once, leaving the room at the same speed he had entered it, already mentally summoning de Galenos to tell him to get ready to move out.

Archanfel thought for a moment, and then woke Hamilcar and Shin from their rest periods, deciding that it would be best if they were all alert, just incase.

/x/

Sho cursed as the tense silence of the house was broken by the sound of shattering glass, and a decidedly female shriek of terror. He was already summoning his Guyver as he ran across the room, and the armored form literally flew up the stairs, finding the bathroom window caved in, and a Zoanoid leaning in through the hole, trying to drag Natsuki out by her ankle as Mizuki tried desperately to hold onto her with one hand, and the doorframe with the other. Sho fired his head beam at the creature, which was a purple scaly thing that he had never seen before, drilling the thing right between the eyes, and catching Natsuki's other wrist as the corpse threatened to pull her out with it. He pulled her back to the doorway as the corpse dissolved, thrusting her into Tetsuro's arms as he appeared.

"They're at the back too," Tetsuro said grimly.

"Get back downstairs, we don't want to be trapped up here, if any get inside. At least in the living room we can get out to the street if we need to."

They made it back down the stairs without any more sounds of breaking glass, and Sho glanced out of the window, scanning habitually as he did so. He realized with a start that Nagano and his 'brothers' had vanished from across the way, and instead there were three Elegan class Hyper-Zoanoids protecting the house. He was surprised, he hadn't really thought about what types their watchers might be, but he hadn't expected them to be Hypers.

There was a brilliant flare of light, and one of the three guardians fell dead into the street, already dissolving as he hit the tarmac. Sho found himself hoping that it wasn't Nagano, he kind of liked him. Looking in the direction the flare of energy had come from, Sho swore, feeling nauseous, he recognized the Zoalord that was walking down the street, laughing. Guyot's battle form was scarred, mutilated, having apparently been unable to completely regenerate from the injuries received at Mt. Minakami, but there was a Zoacrystal in place of the one Archanfel had taken back, and the Remover was attached to his arm.

"Come out, little Guyver, and I might let your humans live," Guyot called mockingly.

"Stay here," Sho told the others, turning for the door.

"Sho, don't. You know he's lying, just the same way he did when he killed Murakami," Tetsuro objected.

"I know he is, but if I let him bring the fight in here, the three of you will definitely be killed," Sho said regretfully, stepping outside without looking back.

"Fukamachi, what the hell?" one of the surviving Elegan snarled, and Sho smiled faintly inside his armor, recognizing the voice.

"I have to do this Nagano," he said quietly, stepping into the street to confront Guyot.

"Still a bleeding heart, still wanting to save everyone," Guyot sneered, already powering up the Remover.

"That doesn't mean I won't fight to protect them," Sho sneered back, firing a pressure cannon blast at him.

Guyot threw up a partial barrier, deflecting the energy upwards, harmlessly into the sky.

"Even if I am no longer as strong as I was, you cannot hope to defeat me," he sneered, aiming the Remover, which was now glowing brightly, at Sho.

He prepared to move out of the way as it started to open, but the energy wave surprised him, the pulse starting before it was fully opened. He felt the energy hit him, there was a visceral tug as his armor started to peel away, and he screwed his eyes shut, desperately trying to will it to stay in place, then suddenly it stopped, there was a breathless hush, and then Guyot was laughing again, but there was a slightly manic edge to the sound now.

Sho opened his eyes, and saw a dark figure standing protectively in front of him, one arm outstretched to maintain the barrier that surrounded them, the barrier that had cut him off from the energy of the remover.

Guyot's insane laughter stopped, and he took a step closer.

"I might have know, the lab rat, still poking his nose in where it doesn't belong," Guyot sneered.

"I think you are mistaken Guyot, I am your replacement, I am more powerful than you could have even dreamed, I think that makes me the finished article, and you the lab rat," Imakarum stated in a bored tone, calculated to enrage Guyot.

"Sho, as soon as I drop the barrier, go. Get the others away from here, Nagano and his brother will help you get them past the rest of Guyot's Zoanoids," Imakarum said very quietly as an incensed Guyot fired three waves of gravity bullets at the barrier.

"What about you?" Sho protested.

"I'll catch you up, we have to try to get that remover off him. Ready…go," Imakarum ordered, dropping the barrier and firing off a wave of gravity bullets of his own, forcing Guyot onto the defensive. Reluctantly, Sho ran, heading back to the house.

"We have to get out of here, the two Elegan are on our side," he said bluntly as soon as he was inside.

"He…he protected you," Tetsuro said, sounding shocked.

"Now maybe you'll listen to me when I say I trust him, can we just get a move on now, please," Sho said, waving them toward the back of the house, where the two Hyper-Zoanoids waited.

Imakarum rushed Guyot, slamming a hard kick into his side, hurling him backward toward where de Galenos waited. He would have preferred to blow him out of existence for good and all, but that wouldn't do much for the Remover. Guyot lashed out, his claws aiming for the much smaller Zoalord's head, needing to drive him back, he had felt ribs crack with that kick, he couldn't go toe to toe with the little bastard, and the boy was obviously reluctant to do anything that could damage the Remover.

"You may be powerful, but you're still Archanfel's pet, his tame little lapdog. How that must rankle, for someone who gave their life to fight Chronos," Guyot snarled, trying to rile him back.

Imakarum snorted, and laughed at his words, the sound genuinely amused.

"You have no idea what you're talking about, Guyot, and trying to distract me so that your traitorous companions can sneak up on us is just…pointless. de Galenos, go high, two miles out and coming in fast," Imakarum said, making Guyot growl in fresh rage, he needed to take this little whelp alive if he was going to have a chance to get his own crystal back, instead of this one that had been cooked up in the South American labs, and the Guyver had fled, he couldn't afford to go after him right now.

"We're not done, whelp, and I will make sure of killing you next time," Guyot snarled, preparing to withdraw for the moment.

"Funny, I was about to offer you the same assurance, you may have escaped your fate once, but my Lord Archanfel will not let you escape it again," Imakarum smirked.

Guyot fired another volley of gravity bullets at Imakarum, forcing him to raise his barrier once more, and took to the air, gaining height as rapidly as he could, which was nowhere near as fast as he once would have managed, heading toward the security of the other two.

Imakarum let him go, there would be other chances, when the risk of something happening to the remover could be reduced by having more of the Zoalords present to contain him, he had managed to stop him stealing Sho's Guyver, and that was the most important thing in the short term. He just hoped this encounter would make Sho think seriously about accepting an alliance with them. He sensed Archanfel telling de Galenos to let the traitors go for the moment before the warm presence slid into his own mind.

_/You did well, Masaki, you stopped him getting the Guyver, and we know more about the threat he poses than we did before. I would love to know how they managed to produce even an inferior Zoacrystal though,/_

_/I didn't manage to get the remover though,/ _he sent, frustrated.

_/Perhaps, but now we know for sure he has it. There will be other battles, child. Catch up with Fukamachi and his friends, make sure they are safe. I will continue to monitor you until your return./_

_/As you wish,/ _Imakarum told him, feeling the contact recede back to a midpoint between full communication and the normal background hum. He took to the air, seeking out the presence of Nagano and his one surviving brother.

tbc


	9. Chapter 9

Imakarum caught up with the group as they reached the park where he and Sho had spoken only the day before, which was fortunately almost completely deserted, its main users off in school. Tetsuro and the girls were kneeling on the grass in the same Sakura grove, desperately trying to catch their breath as Sho and the two Elegan kept watch from the branches of three of the trees.

"Did you have much trouble getting clear?" he asked as he stepped through the trees, making the girls jump, and Tetsuro glare at him, he ignored them completely for the moment, directing his attention up into the trees.

"No, sir. Once their commanders had withdrawn, the enemy Zoanoids ceased any efforts to stop us getting clear," Nagano reported.

"Good," Imakarum nodded.

"What about you, you're not injured, are you?" Sho asked fretfully.

"I'm fine, Guyot is no challenge to me, not any more," Imakarum snorted.

"So I suppose you now have the Remover safely stowed away, ready to use it on Sho when his guard is down," Tetsuro growled mistrustfully.

"We were unable to retrieve the Remover at this time, I could have killed Guyot, but the Remover would likely have been damaged beyond repair. Regardless of whether we got it or not, I have no interest in separating Sho from his unit unless it is something _he _wants at some future time," Imakarum said, regarding Tetsuro and the girls coolly.

"Tetsuro, stop it. He protected me from Guyot, you saw that with your own eyes. You owe it to him to at least listen to what he has to say," Sho said in annoyance.

"Sho, he is entitled to his suspicions, I could have protected you for my own ends, simply to prevent Guyot getting the Guyver, you know that," Imakarum told him quietly, wanting to prevent this becoming an argument which might lead to an irreparable rift between Sho and his humans.

"So? That's what you were doing before, isn't it? It didn't make any difference, you still fought at our side, you still died for the fight, and I still trust you a lot more than I trust Makishima," Sho said, abandoning his post in the tree after a quick glance at Nagano, who nodded, shifting his position so that he and his brother were now watching the whole area between them.

Sho landed on the ground and dismissed his armor, standing a foot away from Imakarum and looking fearlessly up into the glossy depths of the visor.

"It's true, isn't it?" he pushed.

"How long have you known?" he asked.

"I…didn't. Some things always tickled at my mind before Mt. Minakami, but until you said that, they didn't crystallize. You knew too much, and you survived too long. You would never have lasted five years if they had been out to kill you, and an escaped test subject, a reporter who knew some of their deepest secrets, you would have been a hot target, and Makishima would likely have been aware of your existence, he was into everything, even things he wasn't supposed to have his nose in," Sho said softly.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Tetsuro exploded impatiently.

"Murakami-san, Tetsuro, we're talking about Murakami-san, we're talking about how Chronos was helping us fight Guyot before Mt. Minakami, because Murakami-san was already theirs," Sho told him, not looking away from the visor.

"That…that isn't possible," Mizuki protested, her voice trembling.

"I've been theirs, body and soul since I was sixteen, Segawa-san, but really, I was born to belong to them," he confirmed quietly.

"You were sent to spy on us?" Tetsuro demanded.

"No, I was sent to fight Guyot. Can we do this somewhere else? My Lord Archanfel dislikes my being in the open with so little protection this way," he said, feeling a light prod inside his skull from his father, wanting him somewhere secure.

"You think we're just going to go quietly into your lair?" Natsuki scoffed.

"Enough…Sho's right, we owe it to him to at least listen. Where do you suggest we go?" Mizuki asked, half looking at him before her eyes dropped away. She was more confused than ever now, with the thought that he had always technically been an enemy.

Imakarum frowned slightly, looking at the group thoughtfully. There was no way he could manage that much mass over any kind of a distance for teleporting, not weakened as he was by the damage to his body, he ran over the closest Chronos holdings in his mind, assessing distance versus security.

"There is a local office in Shinjuku, that should be secure enough," he suggested.

"That's clear across town, give us the address and we'll meet you there in an hour and a half," Sho said.

"No, call a taxi, now. Nagano, you and Akira will keep the car in sight from the moment it leaves here, until the moment it arrives at the offices. I'll make sure the reception desk knows to pay the driver," Imakarum told them firmly, wanting the off the streets as soon as possible.

"Yes sir," Nagano said instantly.

"See you soon," Imakarum told Sho, teleporting away.

/x/

The manager of the Shinjuku branch of Chronos looked up with a scowl as his office door opened without anyone knocking.

"Who the hell are you, how dare you enter without permission?" he demanded before registering the appearance of the intruder.

"Forgive me, I was not aware that any of the council were intending to visit my humble office," he whimpered, scrambling out of his chair to fall to his knees in front of the Zoalord.

"Indeed," Imakarum said noncommittally, not giving the cowering man any hint of his mood.

"How may I be of service to you, my Lord?"

"Get out; I am commandeering this office for a time. I am expecting four humans shortly, escorted by two Elegen class hyper-Zoanoids, you will pay their taxi fare, you will assure they are escorted to me immediately, and you will treat them with the utmost respect, is that clear?"

"Perfectly, my Lord," the man confirmed.

"Good, out," Imakarum barked, waving one hand in the direction of the door.

The trembling human scuttled out, and Imakarum snorted, dropping into the seat behind the desk and spinning the chair to face the floor to ceiling windows, contemplating Sho, and how much he was prepared to tell him about his links to Chronos before he had joined up with their group before Mt. Minakami, he could feel Archanfel's curiosity in his mind and smiled faintly.

_/Sho figured out I was Chronos before my resurrection,/ _he sent.

_/Really? From what I understood about that group, I would have thought the Segawa boy would have grasped that first./_

_/Maybe, but Sho is smarter than he lets on, I think./_

_/Smart enough to listen to reason?/_

_/It isn't Sho who worries me on that score, I think he will come to me regardless, but I fear this driving a wedge between him and his humans. He needs them, they are what focuses his will to fight,/ _he told him.

_/I am sure it will all work out./_

_/I wish I could be so sure. What am I permitted to tell them about my past?/_

_/What you will, all bar your blood tie to me, you may not share that until after they have joined us, and proved they could be trusted with such information,/ _Archanfel sent firmly.

_/Understood. What is the latest on the traitors?/_

_/They retrieved their transport at Mt. Minakami, and have left Japanese airspace once more. They seem to be heading back to the South American section, but until they land, there is no way to be sure./_

_/We're going to have to deal with them fairly soon, we need to get that Remover from Guyot, and retrieve the Zoacrystals from the other two before Apollyon gets hold of them./_

_/One problem at a time, my Masaki. Deal with Fukamachi and his friends first, at least they would be safer if you can bring them to us, we have a greater chance of preventing Guyot getting that close again./_

_/I know. They'll be here soon, I'll do what I can./_

The telepathic conversation over, Imakarum felt his father withdraw once more to that halfway point to monitor him. He pushed himself out of the chair, moving over to the window to stare down into the busy street below, picking out a taxi pulling to a halt outside the front entrance, he saw the four tiny figures getting out and searched mentally for the two Zoanoids who should be watching them.

_/Were they followed, Nagano?/_

_/Only by us, my Lord, no one else,/ _Nagano replied.

_/Very well, find some quarters, I will summon you when you are needed once more./_

_/Yes, my Lord./_

Imakarum cut the contact and returned to the chair, turning it to face forward once more as two uniformed guards escorted Sho and the others into the room.

"Your…guests…my Lord," one said a little hesitantly.

"Good, dismissed."

"My Lord, we cannot leave you unguarded, this one, he's…Guyver," the man protested nervously.

"I know who he is, you are dismissed," Imakarum said in annoyance, adding a mental shove to the order this time, forcing their obedience.

The two nodded jerkily, turning and leaving the room without any further objection. He kept a lock on their minds as they moved down the corridor, preventing them from talking to anyone else as he erased the identity of his guests from their minds to keep them quiet. Finally returning his focus to the room, he saw the four young people watching him warily.

"Why don't you sit down," he offered, waving to the chairs around the room.

The four of them hesitated, and then dragged chairs over to the desk, so all of them were sitting facing him.

"What do you want to talk about first?" he asked, directing his attention to Sho.

"This new threat you mentioned, the Creators, and their vanguard," he said decisively, the other stuff, the past, could wait for now.

"Very well. The story I told you of the Creators back then was true, as far as I knew it, but since then, I have learned more. I told you we didn't know why they had left, now I do know, after the 'incident' where they paired a Guyver unit with one of their creations, they feared what would happen if my Lord Archanfel were to be paired with a unit, so they abandoned all of their experiments here, including Archanfel, they fled, and as they did so, they threw a meteor the size of the moon at the Earth, intending to destroy it utterly, wipe out all trace of their experiments. Archanfel stopped the destruction, at great personal risk to himself, but the Earth was still plunged into darkness. Archanfel had exhausted himself, and fell into a long sleep, those he had saved built a temple, to keep him safe, and then did what they had been created to do, breed, evolve, grow and spread. Their origins forgotten over the millennia, human kind spread across the globe, creating their civilizations, and fighting their wars. Now the Creators are returning, and they will make sure of sterilizing this world this time, because if they thought their creations were a threat to them before, that is nothing compared to the threat you offer now. Apollyon is their vanguard, their scout, his task seems to be to remove anyone or anything that can stand in the way of his masters. That will include the Guyvers, along with the Zoalords. It will be safer all around if you are with us, rather than fighting on your own," Imakarum told them, leaning back in the chair.

"So you are going to be making the same pitch to Makishima, are you?" Tetsuro asked.

"The only thing I will be pitching at Makishima is an Incision Wave, the next chance I get," Imakarum said coldly.

"Why?" Mizuki asked, shocked by the ice in his tone.

"That is not open for discussion," he said firmly.

"What happens when Apollyon is defeated?" Sho asked, heading off the other line of questioning.

"As soon as the Ark can be readied, and the lost Zoalords replaced, we will be leaving to stop the Creators before they can get here, assuming we have time. At that point, you would once again have a choice, remain here on the Earth, or come with us to fight them."

"So if we joined you, Chronos would protect Tetsuro and the girls while I was fighting?"

"Yes."

"Sho, I'm not sure I feel comfortable putting our lives in their hands," Natsuki said softly.

"I am, if he were going to do anything, he has had plenty of chance, including all of us walking into this base. I might make it out if they tried something, but you three probably wouldn't," Sho said.

"Which could be exactly what he's counting on to make you cooperate," Tetsuro pointed out.

"You want to leave, I will not stop you. I would prefer you didn't, but I won't stop you," Imakarum shrugged.

Tetsuro frowned at him for a long moment, and then leaned cautiously back in his own chair.

"You're not done telling us about being Chronos since you were sixteen yet," he pointed out.

"What did you want to know?" Imakarum asked.

"How did they get you?"

"They didn't _'get' _me, Tetsuro-san, I went willingly with my eyes wide open. My adoptive parents were loyal to Chronos, but the choice was always mine, I was never forced."

"Why did you go to them though?"

"Because it was right for me, because it was what I wanted to do," Imakarum shrugged.

"But at sixteen, you weren't even old enough to be processed, what did they want with you?"

"We have one of the best education systems in the world, for those who are young enough to utilize it, and incidentally, Genzo Makishima brought Agito into Chronos even younger, I believe he was 14 or 15, although I doubt he was quite as willing as he appeared to be."

"Oh yes, get the brainwashing started early," Tetsuro said slightly mockingly.

"I would hardly say Makishima was brainwashed by Chronos, given his behavior, and I certainly wasn't. Everything I did was my own choice."

"So how much of what you told us back then was true, about your history?"

"I really did go into journalism after I finished my education, I wanted to see something of the world, and Chronos didn't mind. I was in New Guinea and the team did manage to walk into the middle of a test ground for new Zoanoids. I was fortunate that several of the Zoalords were there to observe the tests, one of them recognized me from here in Japan and prevented my being killed. I had been injured in the attack, so I was taken to Arizona, and given over to Hamilcar Balkus. By the time I healed, Yamamura's rebellion was over, and the investigation was underway. They managed to ascertain that it was specifically Guyot they had been trying to bring down, but there was no one alive who could answer the why, Yamamura's files indicated only that Guyot was into something big. Archanfel could have killed him, but that wouldn't have told us who else was in it with him. We needed to let him run with whatever it was until we could bring it all down together. The Zoalords could not appear suspicious of him, or he would wonder why they hadn't killed him. I suggested a plan, which the Zoalords tentatively approved, they weren't happy about using me, but there was no one else at hand that could be trusted, so I was processed to match one of the prototypes, and the records were altered to say I was there. After that, I spent five years dogging his heels, trying to unravel what he was up to."

"Why did you join up with us?" Sho asked.

"I never intended to, my only aim when I encountered you was to stop Guyot getting his hands on you. When I shot Panadyne and left, that was how I intended it to be," he said with a half shrug.

"What changed?"

"The fight with the lost numbers, I realized just how young you were, and you came so close to quitting, to offering yourself up to them so save your friends and your father. I couldn't allow that to happen, I couldn't allow Guyot to get his hands on you, so I decided to do what I needed to do to keep you safe and in the fight."

"Including dying in a fight you couldn't win?"

"I knew that was a chance I was taking from the start," he said with another shrug.

"How can you be so cavalier about your own death?" Natsuki asked, shocked.

"You think Sho wouldn't sacrifice his life for what he believes in if there was no other choice? Why should I be any different?"

"So if it comes to it again, fighting this Apollyon?" Tetsuro asked.

"I will die, if that is my fate," he confirmed.

He felt his father's presence in his mind darken at that, and mentally sighed.

_/Just because I am willing to die, if worst comes to worst, does not mean I am looking to die. I will not go so easily,/ _he sent calmly. He felt Archanfel back off once more at the reassurance, but he suspected that it would not be the last he heard on the subject, he already knew how much his father hated even to think of his dying.

"So, assuming we agree to go with you, what happens now?" Tetsuro asked.

"I make arrangements to have Nagano and Akira bring you to where we're currently based."

"And assuming we want to walk away?"

"Nagano and Akira will escort you to whichever new safe house you have set up."

He saw Tetsuro's mulish expression at that, and rolled his eyes behind his visor.

"You are sadly mistaken if you think we will leave you completely unwatched, Tetsuro-san. Sho could possibly deal with Guyot in the state he's in now, but I wouldn't put money on it, and he certainly cannot deal with him while he has the Remover and is backed up by two fully functional Zoalords."

He saw them looking at one another and rose gracefully from the chair, mentally summoning the two Zoanoids to the office, and giving them the two sets of instructions, to match whichever decision they made.

"I will leave you to talk about it, Nagano and Akira are on their way up, tell them which choice you make, they will inform me, and we will make it happen."

"Where are you going?" Tetsuro asked.

"Back to base, I want to know what Guyot and the other two are up to. Sho, whatever the decision, if you need me, tell Nagano, ok?"

"Ok," Sho nodded.

Imakarum quirked a quick smile at the youth, and teleported away, leaving them to make the choice for themselves.

/x/

Imakarum appeared in his quarters, not particularly surprised to find Archanfel there.

"Have they decided?" Archanfel asked.

"Not yet, they're talking about it now. You didn't wait here to ask me that," Imakarum said quietly.

"No, Masaki, what you said to them about if it is your fate to die…"

"I meant it. I gave you my word, and I will not break it, but the day might come when I have to die, to bring us through this trial. Do you think the others would do any less? Shin, Hamilcar, de Galenos, do you think any of us would shirk that final sacrifice, any more than Yentsui, Edward, Waferdanos and Frei'drich did?"

"I know, it doesn't make it any better, but I know. I do want one extra promise from you though, Masaki."

"What is it?"

"Apollyon, I want you to swear to me you will never even attempt to face him. If he comes near you, I want you to run."

"Why?"

"He found you, while you were in the temple, his fascination with you made me uncomfortable. I do not know what concerns me more, that he would kill you, or that he would try to take you alive. If he figures out you're different to the others…his masters would want take you apart to figure out how I did what was meant to be impossible, and fathered a child."

"I promise, I will not try to fight Apollyon," Imakarum told him, shuddering slightly. He was willing to die if it came to that, but being dissected just for being born didn't appeal at all.

He felt the prickle in his mind of a Zoanoid attempting to get his attention, and reached out to make the connection.

"That was Nagano, they've made their decision," he told Archanfel a moment later.

tbc


	10. Chapter 10

Imakarum was waiting outside the research institute when the car pulled up at the end of the drive, back in his 'civilian' clothes now, although he had kept the visor this time. Sho was the first out of the car, looking around curiously at the lush gardens, and the old looking building with ivy climbing the walls.

"Not your usual kind of base," Tetsuro said as he got out of the car behind Sho.

"Not all of our bases are office buildings in the middle of a city, or dug out of mountains," Imakarum shrugged, leading them inside as soon as the girls got out of the car, followed by Nagano and Akira, who peeled off as soon as they were inside, heading off to secure quarters for themselves.

"I'll show you to your quarters now, and you can either rest there, or I will have someone come to give you a tour of the building. I would prefer you didn't go roaming alone for the moment."

"Something to hide?" Tetsuro couldn't help niggling.

"If you want to risk walking into Zoanoid test lab, feel free, but I would recommend you wait until you know which areas are safe, and which you should be cautious in," Imakarum said calmly.

"Aniki, stop it, you're being rude," Mizuki hissed.

"You have two adjoining suites here, overlooking the gardens, ladies this one, guys the one next door. Do you want to rest, or do you want the tour?" he asked before they went inside.

"I think we would like to rest for a while, if that's ok," Mizuki said timidly.

"As you wish, I will send Nagano or Akira to collect you and escort you to the mess for dinner in a couple of hours," Imakarum nodded, walking away without another word.

"Tetsuro, will you please stop trying to wind him up," Sho sighed.

"If he has nothing to hide…"

"Maybe he genuinely doesn't want us wandering accidentally into someplace dangerous. Damn it Tetsuro, you agreed to come, you agreed to give it a chance, and digging at him to try to make him lose his temper isn't giving it a chance," Sho snapped, throwing open the door to the suite assigned to the boys and storming across the sitting room without a glance, going into one of the bedrooms and slamming the door behind him.

"He's right, Aniki, and you know it. Sort it out," Mizuki said softly, ushering Natsuki into the girl's suite and closing the door on her brother.

Tetsuro sighed his shoulders slumping as he stood in the doorway and looked across the comfortable sitting room toward the door Sho was behind, the distance suddenly feeling like a yawning gulf to him. He had no clue how to sort it out with Sho, because he wasn't sure himself why he was being so damn uncooperative with Imakarum when he _had _agreed to try to make a truce with the Zoalords work.

"The room will not bite," a soft voice said from behind him, making him jump.

He turned quickly to see a slender blond man in an off-white suit standing watching him, pointed ears and golden eyes marking him out as something other than human.

"Uh, I know, it isn't the room I am worried about biting at the moment. Are you one of the Zoalords?"

"Yes," he said with an amused quirk to his lips.

"Is there a problem?" the blond asked.

"Not really, I said did, or rather said, something stupid, and I'm not sure how to make it right because I don't know why I acted the way I did," he sighed.

"What did you do?"

"I…I don't really think I feel comfortable telling you…"

"If it is what you said to Lord Imakarum, he does not hold it against you, he understands your suspicions, he really does," the blond offered.

"How did you know…never mind, walls have ears I guess," Tetsuro sighed.

"Nothing so clandestine, Lord Imakarum told me himself, when I asked how your arrival went," he said with another amused look.

"Damn it, why are you being so reasonable? You and Imakarum are both acting completely differently to what we've come to expect from Chronos, and now Imakarum comes in, being all 'let's be friends', and Sho bounces after him like…" Tetsuro trailed off, thudding his head back against the doorframe, realizing two things with a sinking feeling, one, the reason he was being so unreasonable, and two, he had just said something even more stupid, to a Zoalord he had no idea of the identity -or temperament- of.

"I can't believe I just vented like that, I apologize, please don't punish the others for it," he said flatly.

"You really will have to get over your preconceptions of us, if this is going to work out. I have no intention of punishing you or anyone else for you being understandably frustrated. I may be less understanding if your argumentativeness toward Lord Imakarum increases to the point where it distresses him, but until then…you need to settle in," the blond told him, turning and walking away without looking back.

Tetsuro stared after him until he vanished around the corner at the end of the corridor, and then walked into the suite with a deep sigh, closing the door behind him, and walking over to knock on the door of the bedroom where Sho had sequestered himself.

"What?" Sho demanded, his voice not particularly welcoming through the stolidly closed door.

"Sho, I need to talk to you, please," he called, leaning against the doorframe.

"If you want to snark some more…"

"No, Sho. I want to talk about realizing why I've been acting like a twit, and the weird conversation I just had out in the hall," he offered.

"It isn't locked," Sho told him. Not exactly 'come in' but close enough, Tetsuro decided, opening the door and stepping in to find Sho face down on the bed, his head under his pillow.

"So, talk," Sho said, not moving.

"Ok, first; I'm sorry I've been acting like such an ass over this whole thing, I know I agreed to try, and everyone has been really reasonable except me."

"It isn't me you need to apologize to, is it? And that doesn't explain your realization of why you've been acting the way you have," Sho pointed out a little bitterly.

"No, I know. This is kind of hard to admit, but I think I'm jealous," he mumbled, looking down at the carpet.

Sho turned over, throwing the pillow off and staring up at Tetsuro in shock.

"What the _hell _is there to be jealous of?" he demanded.

"I've been your friend a long time Sho, and I've been with you all through this mess, but I've never forgotten that it was my fault you got in this mess in the first place, and I know you haven't forgotten it either. When he came along, he was more help to you than I ever was, even before he revealed himself as a proto-Zoalord, and you respected him, and damn near worshiped him, even though you'd known him barely any time at all, his opinion mattered. Then Guyot killed him, and yes, I was as upset as the rest of you, I liked him too, damn it, but he didn't stay dead, and when he came back, he tried to kill us, tried to kill you…"

"Tetsuro, if he had wanted us dead with any seriousness, we would be dead, I couldn't fight him, couldn't kill him, I didn't have it in me."

"I know," Tetsuro acknowledged, sitting down on the foot of the bed by Sho's feet.

"I guess I got jealous about how easily he reclaimed your trust Sho, you still hold it against me, just a tiny bit, that I threw the unit at you that day, while he tried to kill us, even if he didn't put much effort into it, and you hand us all over to him, to Chronos, with barely a second thought," he said sadly.

Sho sat up, crossing his legs under him and studying Tetsuro for a long moment.

"I'm not going to lie to you, you're right, I kind of still harbor a little resentment for that day, but I _never, ever _lost my trust in you, Tetsuro. Believe me, I thought long and hard before even agreeing to meet with him, but…I trust him instinctively Tetsuro, it isn't something I even think about, I don't think I ever did. I had vague suspicions about him from the very first conversation I had with him, but I somehow knew I could trust him, and that hasn't changed. I guess you can't understand that though," he sighed.

"No, you're wrong Sho, _that _I do understand. Your instincts are usually pretty good, you never really liked Makishima, you didn't want to have anything to do with the unit that day…I should learn to trust your instincts," he said with a half hearted grin.

"Just give it a chance, Tetsuro, give _him _a chance."

"I will, I promise," he nodded.

"Good, so, tell me about the weird conversation in the hall."

"Oh, one of the Zoalords crept up on me, he was…odd,"

"Which one?" Sho asked with a chuckle.

"I don't know, I didn't ask his name. Small, blond, pointy ears and golden eyes," Tetsuro shrugged.

"That was Archanfel Tetsuro!"

"What? Crap, now I'm really surprised he didn't execute me on the spot," he groaned.

"Why, what did you say to him?"

"Not much, I just blew up and vented about Imakarum a little, and how Chronos wasn't acting like I had come to expect," he said, muffling his voice by burying his face in Sho's abandoned pillow.

"What did he say?"

"Uh, something about losing my preconceptions, and a warning not to upset Imakarum," he said with a frown.

"You're right, you're lucky. He was the one who single handedly turned back three mega-smasher beams after all," Sho told him.

"Yeah, I guess I'm going to owe Imakarum that apology, aren't I?"

Sho grinned at his friend, glad that it looked like everything might work out all right after all.

/x/

Archanfel wasn't remotely surprised to find Masaki in the gardens once more, although he was surprised, and rather amused, to find him calmly dead heading roses.

"Unless you've killed them for some reason, this is what we employ gardeners for," he pointed out.

Imakarum looked over his shoulder, smiling at him for a moment before turning his attention back to the rose bush he was working on.

"I can understand why he always insisted on tending his own garden, it is very soothing," he said softly.

"Ah, I do not believe he had roses in his garden though."

"No, I think he often thought I was thorny enough, without dealing with roses too," he shrugged.

"He loved you, Masaki, he adored you from the moment he met you, thorns and all."

"I know, I'm just missing him a lot today for some reason, feeling melancholy," he said, sheathing the cutters and dropping the dead heads into the wheelbarrow one of the gardeners had left when he chased them off.

"I've already warned the Segawa boy about upsetting you, if this is down to him…"

"No, it really isn't his fault, I've just been thinking about it more these last couple of days. Killing Griselda…it didn't help as much as I thought it would I guess."

"We need to bring down Makishima too, for you to get any closure on his death. He will pay, Masaki," Archanfel promised, starting to lead him back inside, since he seemed to have finished playing with the flowers.

"I know, I have complete faith that he will pay, one way or another," Imakarum told him as they walked side by side along the corridor.

"So, how did you come to speak with Tetsuro?" he asked, completely changing the subject. Archanfel decided to allow the change, he liked the rather peaceful feeling Masaki was generating at the moment, and didn't want to disrupt it.

"I was in the corridor, he was looking like he thought the walls of their room were going to swallow him whole, we chatted a little," he smirked.

Imakarum cocked an amused eyebrow at him, shaking his head slightly.

"Chatted, right," he agreed lightly.

"He upset you, even if you refused to hold it against him, it doesn't mean I can't. I intended to warn him off a lot more strongly than I did, but the boy was so confused already, I thought it would be cruel."

"I'm sure that he'll come around, sooner or later, you don't need to be so protective of me. He's only human, he can't really hurt me, you know."

"You are right, I know, but it still concerns me non the less. When do you intend that they should meet the other Zoalords?"

"I don't know, give them a couple of days to acclimate, and then they can meet them," Imakarum shrugged, stopping at a corridor junction.

"I have to go and get cleaned up, I will see you in the control room shortly," he said, glancing toward the elevator that would take him up to the residential floors of the building.

"Very well," Archanfel nodded, going off his own way, and leaving Imakarum alone.

The young Zoalord watched him go for a moment, then walked away himself, he was glad Sho and the others were here, even if it did take a while for the humans to settle down and trust that they weren't planning to throw them into processing tanks the moment they turned their backs.

tbc


	11. Chapter 11

Natsuki hesitated before knocking on the door to the boy's suite.

"What if they're still arguing?" she said quietly to Mizuki.

"They won't be, those two never hold a grudge when they argue," she said with supreme confidence, reaching past the other girl to rap on the door.

It swung open a moment later, and Sho stuck his head out to see who was there.

"Oh, we thought you might be Nagano or his brother. Come in," he said, stepping back so that they could enter.

They stepped inside and saw Tetsuro sitting on the comfortable sofa, flicking through TV channels idly.

"I see you're getting settled in already," Natsuki said, rolling her eyes at him.

"It's taking my mind off being hungry while we wait for our escorts to come get us," he shrugged, turning the TV off.

"What is your room like?" Sho asked, looking at Mizuki.

"It looks exactly the same as this one, I think, two bedrooms, bathroom, and sitting room," she told him, looking around.

"And a stunning view over the gardens," Natsuki added, wandering over to the large window to pull the sheer drapes aside slightly.

"We haven't really looked at the view," Tetsuro shrugged.

"Have you sorted out your differences properly?" Mizuki asked.

"Yeah, I'm going to owe Lord Imakarum an apology when we see him next," Tetsuro sighed.

"Have you decided to stop trying to annoy him then?"

"Yeah, now that I've figured out why I was getting on his case, hopefully it should be ok."

"So, why were you getting on his case?" Natsuki asked.

"That doesn't matter, that's been sorted out between Tetsuro and me," Sho told them, getting up again at another knock on the door.

It was Nagano and Akira, both now back in the familiar jeans, and white t-shirts with tiny black Chronos logos on the sleeves.

"We came to escort you to the mess, if you're ready to eat," Nagano said.

"More than ready," Tetsuro said, jumping up from the sofa.

"Thanks," Sho grinned at the two.

"I see you lost the uniforms again," Sho said as they walked along the corridor, referring to the uniforms they had been forced to utilize after switching out of their battle forms in Shinjuku.

"Yeah, Lord Imakarum doesn't want us in the uniforms while we're responsible for you, which we still are, at the moment. If you want to leave the premises for any reason, to go into the city or whatever, we go with you," Nagano said.

"Why?" Tetsuro asked curiously.

"Why what?"

"Why would you go with us?"

"You're at risk from more than just rogue Zoalords now, you know," Akira pointed out, speaking for the first time since they had met him.

"What do you mean?" Natsuki asked.

"Makishima is likely to figure out we've thrown in our lot with the Zoalords sooner or later. He'll be livid, and I don't like to think what he might do if he managed to get hold of you three," Sho said quietly.

Mizuki opened her mouth to protest, and then closed it again, she didn't really see the point in protesting that Makishima 'wouldn't do that' anymore, because his most recent actions would make a liar out of her. Sho smiled sadly at her reaction and curled his fingers through hers, squeezing lightly. Even though she was more or less his girlfriend now, he knew that she had been in love with Makishima for a long time, and it was hard for her to think of him going so dark.

The group arrived at a bank of elevators at the end of the hall, and Nagano waved a hand at them.

"We need to take the elevator down one floor, there are stairs over there in the event of fire, but the door is alarmed, so they're only fire stairs," Nagano told them as he indicated a heavy looking wooden door discretely tucked in the corner across from the lifts as he hit the call button.

They nodded to indicate that they understood as a car arrived and they were ushered in by the two Zoanoids. When they got out one floor down, the difference in the place was startling, it was bustling down here, a busy mix of obviously on duty troops moving with fast, purposeful strides dodging around groups of slower moving men who were chatting idly as they walked.

"Mess is three doors down on the left, stay out of the way of the fast moving ones, the others should pretty much ignore you," Nagano advised, leading them out into the corridor, with the same sort of expression Sho associated with people about to leap into a fast flowing river.

The effect was much the same, Sho mused as Akira fell in behind them, to stop them getting separated too badly as they dodged hurrying soldiers while trying to make it to the mess hall. He heard Mizuki squeak behind him as her hand was tugged from his grip, and he turned quickly in time to see her overbalancing, after apparently being clipped by a soldier reading a PDA as he walked. Akira had moved to catch her, but someone beat him to it, as she fell into Imakarum's arms.

One eyebrow arched over the visor as he set her back on her feet beside Sho, and the corridor stilled as everyone waited for the explosion. People weren't allowed to randomly touch the Zoalords, even if they _were_ out of uniform, everyone should be expected to recognize them and stay the hell out of their way.

"If you do not have sufficient work to do to prevent you standing around cluttering up already busy corridors, I can send you all to Dr. Balkus for _additional _duties," was all he said, a low, warning note to his voice.

The corridor cleared almost magically, everyone either vanishing into the mess hall, or disappearing around the corners at the end of the corridors.

"Thank you," Mizuki said to him in a tiny voice, blushing red.

"That's alright, I know from personal experience that running into some of the Zoanoids, even in their human forms, can be like running into a brick wall," he told her with an amused smirk.

"Are you heading to the mess?" Sho asked him, catching Mizuki's hand in his once more.

"No, I just left there."

"Um, I was hoping to talk to you, for a moment," Tetsuro said, not quite managing to meet his eyes.

"I will be available tomorrow afternoon. I will most likely be in the gardens at around 2pm, after you have had your tour, and some lunch," Imakarum told him.

"Then, I will come and find you there," Tetsuro told him, not missing the fractionally raised eyebrow as his polite and non-confrontational tone surprised the hell out of the Zoalord.

"As you wish. If you will excuse me, I have somewhere to be, and you were on your way to dinner," he said, nodding his head and vanishing down the still empty corridor.

/x/

Balkus looked up as Imakarum came into the large room he was standing in, now dressed in a skintight black body glove, barefoot, his hair tightly braided out of the way as he snapped on the leather and steel training guards he had retrieved from the lab where Balkus had left them after Alaska.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Balkus asked dubiously.

"Yes, I need a good brawl to blow off some steam, and there are only two of us who have decent night vision, unless of course you would prefer to ask Archanfel…"

"No, I would rather not ask Archanfel to brawl with my new prototypes to see how they handle an almost total absence of light," Balkus snorted, holding out his hand.

Imakarum smirked and pulled his visor off, wincing against the too bright lights as he dropped it into the outstretched hand before closing his eyes to wait for Balkus to turn out the lights and release his opponents.

"I will be monitoring from the booth to block their natural aversion to fighting a Zoalord, please try not to kill them, if at all possible, they are the best prototypes of this kind I have created so far," Balkus said from further away. Imakarum turned unerringly toward the source of his voice, next to the door and smirked.

"Have I ever killed one of your prototypes?" he asked.

"Yes, when you were processed into your proto-form, and proved to be rather stronger than any of us imagined you would be for a prototype," he said dryly.

"Ah, I had forgotten that," he grinned, nodding.

"I will try to refrain from killing your prototypes," he said gravely.

He heard Balkus snort again, clearly un-amused, and waited for the lights to go out. He heard the hum of the lights cut out at the same moment he heard the click of the security door across from him releasing, and opened his eyes.

He nodded in approval, the three figures were sleek and matte, if his eyesight were not what it were, they would be invisible even to him, as it was he could only see the vague difference in the depth of their darkness and the darkness around them, and if Balkus had truly succeeded in masking their heat signatures, then even a Guyver would probably have trouble locating them in a rural setting where there was virtually no artificial light.

"They're good, I can barely see them at this level of light," he called up in the direction of the blacked out observation booth.

"Good, I am releasing them now," Balkus said back through the mike.

These Zoanoids were smarter than some of them, instead of rushing him, they split up and scattered into the darkness, making it harder for him to track them, but he stood perfectly still, listening for them, they would have to approach him sooner or later to attack, and he would either hear or see them coming.

Two rushed him from opposing sides, he ducked under the clawed hand of one, pivoting in place to block it's claws with his arm, while he caught the second with a spinning kick to the chest, knocking it back into the darkness while he turned back to the first one, blocking a second swipe of its claws before grabbing its arm and flipping it away from him. He still wasn't sure where the third one was, he could hear the two he had just tossed scrabbling to their feet, but the third was being very quiet.

The one he had kicked ran at him once more, forcing him back toward where he knew its companion was waiting as it raked its claws alarmingly close to his throat. He laughed, catching its arm and flinging it at the one that had been waiting for him as he moved away from the center of the room, still straining his ears for any sign of the last one, because he definitely couldn't see it. He sensed it more than heard it, as it dropped down from the ceiling supports, and he rolled out of the way before it could land on him, ducking another swipe as he gained his feet again.

He was tracking all three of them now, and realized quickly that they were trying to herd him into a corner, where he would lose his advantage in agility and speed. He feinted left, and then shifted quickly, catching the one on the right flat footed and throwing it across the room, where he heard it thud nicely into a wall, and not get up again.

The one to his left moved in while he had his back to it, and he felt the claws rake over the arm guard as he flipped forward, out of the way. They were still working as a team, still trying to herd him, but he had learned a lot about fighting over the years, not all of it fighting clean either, he extended his claws, darting between them, and scoring them both across the ribs as he rolled forward, evading their attempts to grab him as he passed between them.

He yelled in pain as the lights came on suddenly, the harsh glare searing his sensitive, dark adjusted eyes, and he felt a clawed hand rake hard across his ribs where one of his opponents hadn't been able to pull its blow in time when he was blinded and distracted by the light.

Balkus swore as he hurried down from the control deck, glaring at the four soldiers in workout clothes who had caused this mess by turning the room's lights on. They shifted out of his way quickly, and he paid them no more attention as he dashed over to where Imakarum knelt on the padded floor in a spreading pool of blood, the two Zoanoids who were still standing hovering over him uncertainly.

"It isn't your fault. Pick up your companion and return to the lab," Balkus told them shortly, kneeling beside Imakarum and forcing him to move the arm wrapped around his ribs enough that he could get an idea how bad the damage was.

"Can you stand?" he asked Imakarum, who was hunched forward, his breathing rapid and shallow, his eyes screwed tightly shut.

"Don't know," he gasped.

"I need to get you to medical, can you try to get up, or do I need to call a team to come and get you?" he asked.

"I can't see Hamilcar, it hurts too much to open my eyes," he panted.

"All right, lie down, I'm going to summon a medical team."

"No, damn it, help me get up, I'm not going through the halls on a stretcher," Imakarum finally growled through his teeth, his pride kicking in. If he was conscious, he damn well was not going to be carried.

Balkus scowled, but hauled Imakarum to his feet, careful of his torn flesh, and kept him upright as he guided him slowly, haltingly, from the room.

"You four, go to my office and wait until me or one of the other Zoalords comes to deal with you," Balkus said angrily to the four soldiers as he got Imakarum past them.

"Yes, Lord Balkus," one said, the four of them stiffening to attention.

Balkus sent a telepathic signal ahead of them to keep the corridors clear of staff as he got Imakarum to the medical section, not particularly surprised when Archanfel arrived less than a second after them.

"What happened?" the supreme Zoalord demanded.

"He was helping me evaluate my new prototypes, some idiot turned the lights on, and he got clawed across the ribs when the light burned his eyes," Balkus reported, paying no attention at all to the blood soaked into his robes as he got the younger Zoalord onto the treatment table and cut the top of the body glove away, exposing the damage.

"It looks worse than it is, I'll clean the wounds out and close them. It will be uncomfortable for 48 hours but it will heal without immersion," he said, injecting local anesthetic around the injuries before probing them lightly.

"Joy," Imakarum hissed, flinching as Balkus caught a tender spot before the anesthetic kicked in fully.

"How are your eyes feeling now?" Balkus asked.

"Fine, I want my visor back," he said shortly.

"It's in the booth, I'll send someone to get it for you while I get started on your ribs."

"Who did this Hamilcar, who is responsible for him getting injured?" Archanfel demanded when the man started cleaning the gashes.

"They're in my office, waiting. The room was marked as in use Archanfel," Balkus told him.

"Understood," Archanfel nodded.

"Take it easy, I will come and check on you later," he told Imakarum, squeezing his shoulder lightly before striding from the room, his whole aura seeming to darken even as golden fire started to lick around his form.

/x/

Sho opened the door early the next morning, and found Nagano standing outside, he seemed tense and on edge to Sho.

"I've come to escort you guys to breakfast, if you're ready," he said.

"We will be in a few minutes, I don't know about the girls though," Sho said, frowning slightly at Nagano.

"I knocked there first, they said they would be out in a minute," he shrugged.

"Nagano, are you all right? You seem very twitchy," Sho asked.

"I…" he hesitated and looked up and down the corridor before shaking his head.

"Come in," Sho said, stepping back.

"What's happened, there wasn't an attack somewhere was there?"

"No, things are just a little oppressive here today. Lord Imakarum got hurt last night, Lord Archanfel executed the four responsible for his injury, but he's still kind of pissed, and we're all feeling it a little," Nagano said softly.

"Imakarum got hurt? How badly?" Sho asked, horrified.

"I don't know, probably not too badly, I have a friend in the labs, and she said that they didn't tank him, so whatever it was, he can heal from it himself."

"Do you think you can find out?"

"Sho…I can't go around asking questions like that," he said.

"Of course, I'm sorry," Sho nodded, dropping it as Tetsuro came out of his bedroom.

"Time for breakfast?" he asked.

"As soon as the girls are ready, yes," Sho nodded.

"Good."

Another tap at the door heralded the arrival of the girls, and they headed down to breakfast in the mess.

Sho found his concern about Imakarum reduced dramatically when he saw him sitting at a corner table in the mess, picking half heartedly at his breakfast.

"You guys go ahead, I'll be back in a minute," Sho said, wandering over to the other table, and slipping into the chair across from Imakarum, oblivious to the shocked looks of all of the other Chronos people in the room.

"Are you all right? I heard a rumor that you got hurt last night."

"I'm…well, I've been better, but I'm ok. Just some gashes on my ribs, it will heal in a couple of days."

"How did it happen?"

"I got distracted sparring, didn't move fast enough," he half shrugged in deference to his ribs.

"I'm glad you're all right."

Imakarum nodded, pushing his plate aside still only half finished, and pushed himself cautiously to his feet.

"I have to go, tell Tetsuro that I'll see him in the garden as agreed, later on, please,"

"I will," Sho nodded, watching as Imakarum walked carefully from the room before going back and rejoining the others.

"What happened to him, he was all right yesterday?" Natsuki asked.

"He zigged when he should have zagged, he's all right. He said he'll see you later as agreed, Tetsuro," Sho said, smiling at Mizuki as she handed him a plate of breakfast she had already gotten for him.

tbc


	12. Chapter 12

Tetsuro took a deep breath to fortify his nerve before stepping out onto the terrace overlooking the gardens and looking around for Imakarum. He couldn't see any sign of the Zoalord, just gardeners moving around and tending the immaculate flowerbeds. He hesitated, looking at his watch quickly he realized his nervousness about this had made him a little early, so he plunked himself down on one of the stone benches facing the terrace doors to wait for Imakarum to show up.

"How was the tour?"

The voice behind him made him yelp and spin around on the bench to glare at Imakarum, who was standing below him on the grass, looking up with an unapologetic smirk.

"Where did you spring from? You weren't down there a second ago," Tetsuro muttered, a little resentful that he had been startled that way.

"Oh, I was out here in the grounds, I was just around the other side of the building," Imakarum told him, walking carefully up the steps and lowering himself with a pained grunt on a bench at right angles to the one Tetsuro occupied.

"The tour was fine, I wouldn't mind seeing more of the processing labs, the areas Nagano said he didn't have clearance to show us," Tetsuro said, watching curiously as Imakarum fidgeted a little to find a comfortable position for his injured ribs.

"We'll have to see about that, when you guys have maybe settled in a little more," Imakarum told him.

"That's fair enough," Tetsuro nodded.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?"

"I…I owe you an apology for acting like such a brat, the last couple of days," Tetsuro said in a rush, looking down at the smooth white stone of the terrace.

"Ok," Imakarum said in a completely neutral tone.

Tetsuro looked up again, seeing the impenetrable barrier of that damn visor tilted slightly in his direction, giving no indication if he was actually looking at him, or up at the sky as he appeared to be. Apparently Imakarum wasn't going to make this easy for him, and why should he, really?

"I agreed to try to make this work for Sho's sake, if nothing else, and then I acted like a jerk intent on torpedoing a truce that was fragile enough to begin with."

"Why?" there was no demand to Imakarum's question, simply a genuine curiosity. Tetsuro could answer the question or not, and he would accept it either way, but Tetsuro knew that if this was really going to work, if he was really going to give it a chance, then he had to be honest here.

"Because I was afraid you were taking my best friend away from me," Tetsuro said. He saw the eyebrow go up fractionally again, and wondered completely irrelevantly if Imakarum knew he gave away when something surprised him, even with an impassive expression, and his eyes hidden.

"Believe me, the last thing I want is to take him away from any of you, he needs you," Imakarum told him firmly.

"I know that, really. It was my own insecurity making me lash out at the one person I know could actually take him away."

"Nothing on this Earth could make him abandon you and your sister," Imakarum snorted.

"Maybe," Tetsuro said dubiously, he had a suspicion that if he put his mind to it, Imakarum could convince Sho that he would be better off without the three humans weighing him down, but on the other hand, he was actually starting to believe that Imakarum really had neither the desire, nor the intent, to do any such thing.

"So, are we good to maybe start over on this truce thing then?" Tetsuro asked hesitantly.

"Of course. I meant it when I said I didn't blame you for your suspicions, I'm certainly not going to hold them against you."

"Thank you," Tetsuro said.

"Come on, I'll walk you back up to your quarters, I need to talk to Sho for a moment," Imakarum said, folding a protective arm around his inured ribs as he started to get up without his usual grace.

"What really happened to your ribs? Sho just said you zigged when you should have zagged," Tetsuro asked, holding out an uncertain hand in a silent offer of assistance.

Imakarum laughed softly, and allowed Tetsuro to help him up before shaking his head.

"Not sure either would have helped really, as I had an opponent on either side of me. I was sparring and I allowed myself to be distracted, which resulted in an unfortunate union between my ribs and a very sharp set of claws. It's healing," he said with a negligent shrug, leading the way back indoors.

Sho looked up anxiously from the magazine he was pretending to read when the door opened.

"How did it go?" he asked, before registering that Imakarum was standing with Tetsuro in the doorway.

"Fine, it's fine. I'll just be in my room, Lord Imakarum wants to talk to you for a second," Tetsuro told him, going into his bedroom and shutting the door behind him.

"Is it really all right?" Sho asked as Imakarum closed the door and came into the sitting room.

"Yes," he nodded, wandering over to the window and pulling the drape aside to look down into the gardens.

"The day after tomorrow, Sho, you four will be meeting the remaining Zoalords properly. I want to know if you want me to arrange a private meeting between you and Hamilcar Balkus before that, so that you can ask him…what you wanted to ask him, or if you would prefer to wait until after," Imakarum said quietly without turning away from the glass.

Sho froze, staring at the other man silently, his mouth slightly open.

"I…I don't know," he finally forced out, his voice sounding strangled to his own ears.

He had wanted answers on why they had done what they had done to his father, but now the chance was finally here to get them, he wasn't sure he was ready to hear it.

"What would you do?" he asked hesitantly.

"I can't answer that Sho, you have to decide for yourself when you think you'll be ready to ask him about it, but I will say this, you have to think about whether or not you can deal with him, possibly even have to fight alongside him, whether that would be easier or harder for not knowing," he told him softly, finally turning to face him.

"Whenever I end up seeing him, I don't want to see him alone," Sho told him, looking up.

"I'm sure he would not object to Tetsuro being there also," Imakarum pointed out.

"No. I want you there," Sho said firmly.

"Are you sure?" Imakarum hedged, thinking privately that would do nothing to pacify Tetsuro's insecurities.

"Yes," Sho told him. He looked down at his feet for a long moment, and when he looked up again, there was a lost expression in his eyes.

"I trust you, and I think that given time I may even trust the others too, but right now, I'm not sure I trust Dr. Balkus, and I know I have your word that we're safe here, safe as we can be anyway, but…if he did something while we were meeting, Tetsuro couldn't stop him, and you could, so I feel safer with the idea of you being there," Sho told him in a rush, looking almost guilty at the admission that he didn't trust the scientist.

"Oh, Sho…" Imakarum sighed, moving to wrap an arm around Sho's shoulder and pulling him into his uninjured side.

Sho leaned hesitantly into the offered comfort, relaxing fractionally as Imakarum squeezed his shoulder lightly.

"If you want me there, I'll be there," he told him quietly.

"Then…maybe we should get it over with," Sho mumbled.

"Fine, I'll speak to Hamilcar tonight then, and arrange a time for tomorrow."

/x/

Archanfel sat quietly, watching Masaki with his elbow resting on the edge of the table, his chin resting on his palm as he stared at his dinner plate, his fork randomly poking the food every so often, but not actually lifting any to his mouth.

"Masaki, child?" he queried softly.

"Hmm?" he responded distractedly, looking up slowly.

"I can't believe I am about to say this, but do not play with your food," he said.

That earned him a startled laugh, and Imakarum's full attention as he put his fork down and pushed his visor down to look at Archanfel over the top of it.

"I can't believe you said that either," he said with a grin.

"What is troubling you Masaki? I know you have not had much appetite of late, but I have not seen you pick at your food quite so much as this," he asked, concerned.

"I need to arrange a meeting between Hamilcar and Sho, for tomorrow, before the four of them meet the rest of the Zoalords," he told Archanfel with a sigh.

"For what purpose?"

"To discuss Sho's father."

"Ah, of course. So what is the problem?"

"Sho…he wants me there when he talks to Hamilcar, he isn't quite ready to trust him yet, and he wants me there to allow him to feel secure."

"Oh. I take it you and Hamilcar have not yet ironed out your own difference of opinion on that day?"

"No."

"Masaki, I know you are not going to want to hear this, but I do see Hamilcar's point of view on this, once Guyot had captured the boy's father, there was little chance of him not becoming suspicious had Hamilcar not done _something _with him."

"I know that, but there must have been some other way than…Sho shouldn't have had to kill his own father," Imakarum said quietly.

"Technically he didn't, the Guyver did," Archanfel pointed out.

"And if Hamilcar had not intervened when I tried to gain control of the Enzyme, he would never have caused the damage that allowed the Guyver to gain dominance," Imakarum argued.

"Is this the point where it became a true argument between you and Hamilcar?" Archanfel asked calmly.

"Yes," Imakarum nodded.

"Then, you have never been told _why _he intervened when he did?"

"No. You mean there was a reason, other than him focusing too narrowly on gaining the control metal?"

"Yes, there was a reason. If he had not intervened, Guyot would have, and while you were trying to control the Enzyme, your barriers would not have been up tightly enough to stop him seeing the truth in your mind, and we weren't ready then. It would have made little difference in the end, Masaki, the optimization was incomplete, Fumio Fukamachi would not have survived anyway."

"I doubt Sho will take much comfort from that," Imakarum pointed out dryly.

"Probably not. Is it going to be a problem?"

"I don't know, it's not as if Sho doesn't know the basic facts already, we captured his father, he was processed, and he…died. If he didn't think he could deal with that, he wouldn't have agreed to come here no matter what advantages it offered for the safety of his friends. I think much might depend on how Hamilcar handles the meeting."

"I will speak with Hamilcar about the way he handles it, but in return Masaki, you will hold your tongue. That will not be the time or place for you and Hamilcar to get into your own disagreement on the event in question. Agreed?"

"Agreed," he nodded after a moment.

"Good, so if your mind is settled now, eat something," Archanfel ordered him.

Imakarum snorted, but obediently picked up his fork and started to eat his meal.

/x/

Balkus frowned as he examined the gashes on Imakarum's ribs.

"These are not healing as quickly as they should, even factoring in your current physiological problems. Are you resting as much as you should?" he asked.

"Huh?" Imakarum asked blankly, looking up at him through his visor.

"Are you resting?" Balkus repeated impatiently.

"Sorry, my mind was wandering; I need a time for you to meet with Sho and me tomorrow, so that he can talk to you about the incident with his father."

"You will be there?"

"It's what he wants. Archanfel will talk to you later about handling the meeting, and he has already told me to keep my mouth shut during the meeting to avoid our own argument on the matter starting up again."

"Very well, we will discuss a time later. You are evading my question, Imakarum. Are you resting?"

"I had difficulty sleeping last night because I was uncomfortable," he said.

"I can give you something for that, but you are still not quite answering the question," Balkus pointed out, redressing the gashes.

Imakarum remained silent, and Balkus glared at him.

"Do I need to have Lord Archanfel ask you the question?" he demanded.

"That's low Hamilcar. Fine, no I am not resting, I have not had an undisturbed night's sleep since immediately after I regained consciousness, and I suspect I only slept then because you slipped me a Mickey in that bloody drink you gave me. There, your question is answered, are you happy now?" he growled.

"Hardly. What is stopping you sleeping?"

"Nightmares," he said shortly, pulling his t-shirt back on.

"About what?"

"Does it matter?"

"I suppose not. I will give you something to help with the pain tonight, something that will also help you sleep," Balkus sighed.

"You can't put me out Hamilcar. Why do you think I said nothing in the first place? If we are attacked while I am drugged unconscious, what use will I be?"

"What use will you be if you collapse once more? You need to rest, to maintain your energy reserves. I am not suggesting you be drugged regularly, that would only cause more problems that it could solve, but in the short term, it would at least allow you to heal," he pointed out.

"Tonight I will agree to, beyond that, I will think about it," he sighed.

"Good, I will inform Archanfel when we speak later," Balkus nodded, dropping a single white tablet into a bottle and handing it to the younger man.

"Thanks," he said, shoving the bottle in the pocket of his jeans.

"So, tomorrow," Balkus sighed reluctantly.

"Yes. I think Sho wants it over with, so perhaps some time in the morning?"

"If you are to be there, it cannot be too early, you will be foggy for at least an hour after you wake up with that drug, and I want you to get a decent amount of sleep. 11am should give you time to shake the effects and eat something before hand."

"Fine, 11am, I'll let Sho know," Imakarum nodded, walking out.

/x/

Tetsuro walked out of his bedroom, heading for the bathroom, and stopped in surprise seeing Sho sitting on the window sill, looking out over the gardens in the faint, silvery light of the moon, his legs dangling out of the window.

"Sho, why are you sitting out here in the dark? Is something wrong?" he asked.

"Couldn't sleep. I have a meeting with Dr Balkus tomorrow morning, so I can finally ask for some answers about what happened to my father. I'm kind of nervous I guess," he shrugged.

"You're not seeing him alone are you?"

"No, Lord Imakarum will be there with me. And before you get all twitchy and insecure again, it's just because I'm not quite ready to trust Dr Balkus yet, and I feel safer having another Zoalord there, just incase," he said.

"No, no insecurity on this. He told me he had no desire to get between us, and I do believe him," Tetsuro assured him, coming to lean against the wall beside where Sho sat.

"Are you sure you want to do this? Whatever he says, it isn't going to change anything," Tetsuro asked quietly.

"I don't know. I know it won't change anything, but I need to know, I think."

"You should get some sleep then Sho, you don't want to go in there tired," Tetsuro told him.

"I'll try," Sho agreed, swinging his legs back inside and closing the window.

"See you in the morning," Sho said, going back into his bedroom and closing the door, leaving Tetsuro to carry on to the bathroom.

/x/

Archanfel let himself into Masaki's room after speaking to Hamilcar, finding his son stretched out on his back on the sofa, staring up at the ceiling in the low light, his visor lying on the table beside him.

"I didn't think you would be asleep. Take the tablet, Masaki," he chided gently.

"I don't want to be drugged," he objected, holding out his hand in a silent request for help to lever himself upright.

Archanfel obliged, pulling him up and then sitting beside him.

"I know you don't like the idea, but you have to sleep. Take it," he said.

Imakarum fished the bottle out of his pocket, rattling it softly for a moment.

"What if something happens while I'm knocked out?"

"Nothing is stirring, we may not have managed to track Makishima's position exactly, but we know he has not left America, the traitors are back in South America and making no hint of movement at this time. The only problem we have no idea at all of the location of is Apollyon, and we're watching closely to make sure he can't creep up on us here. In the unlikely event anything does go wrong, we will deal with it. You're not going to be up to fighting at the moment anyway, so just sleep, child," he pointed out firmly.

Imakarum twisted the top off the bottle, tipping the tiny pill out onto his hand and picking up a bottle of water that he had left sitting on the floor beside him. He swallowed the tablet with a hefty gulp of water before he could change his mind, and put the now empty bottles down on the table beside his visor.

"I suppose I should head to bed then," he sighed reluctantly.

"Go ahead then. I will see you in the morning," Archanfel told him, leaving him alone to get ready for bed.

Imakarum made sure the clock beside the bed was set to wake him in plenty of time for his head to clear before he had to go with Sho in the morning, and pulled his pajama bottoms on, falling carefully into bed and trying to get comfortable as he felt the lethargy of the sedative creep over his body, pulling him inexorably into the darkness.

tbc


	13. Chapter 13

Sho practically catapulted off the sofa at the light knock on the door, his stomach churning, even though he hadn't been able to force any breakfast down this morning. He avoided the other's eyes as he hurried to the door, opening and looking up at Imakarum, who stood waiting patiently.

"Are you ready, Sho?" he asked quietly.

"I guess," he nodded, casting a quick, nervous grin over his shoulder at the others without really looking at them.

"I'll see you guys later," he said, stepping out into the hall and shutting the door without waiting for an answer.

"You look…odd," he said, glancing at Imakarum out of the corner of his eye.

The Zoalord wasn't wearing his armor and cloak, but he wasn't in the casual clothes Sho had come to expect either; he was wearing black robes, over a charcoal grey bodysuit.

Imakarum looked down at his robes, which were a black version of Archanfel's robes, and shrugged.

"I know, this is not something I normally wear, but I didn't think either the armor or my normal clothes were suitable for this meeting, one way or the other," he told the youth, not elaborating further on the subject.

He wasn't going to tell Sho that this was as close as he could get to appearing neutral in the meeting that was to come, that he felt his armor would make it look too much like he was siding with Hamilcar, and the casual clothes would make it look too much like he was siding with Sho. Even though he actually was on Sho's side in this, he had promised Archanfel that he would not let his own feelings on the issue infringe on the discussion between Hamilcar and Sho.

"Oh," Sho nodded, bouncing nervously on his toes as they got into the elevator, his fingers picking restlessly at the seams of his jeans.

"Sho…it isn't too late to change your mind if you're not ready," Imakarum said quietly, observing just how jittery he was.

"No, I'm good, I want to get this over with, I want to hear the answers," he said as firmly as he could.

"And if you don't like the answers?" Imakarum asked curiously.

"I'm pretty resigned to the fact that I won't like the answers, but I need to know," he sighed.

The elevator stopped, and Imakarum led Sho out, completely ignoring the glances they got from the soldiers they passed as they headed for the small, private lounge where Balkus should be waiting for them. The old man was standing by the window when they entered, he cast a long, assessing look at Imakarum, but the younger Zoalord suspected it was more to do with figuring out if he had taken the sedative the previous night, rather than anything to do with this meeting.

"Sit down, Sho," Imakarum told him softly, feeling the boy shaking slightly as he guided him to a chair.

Once the three of them were seated, Sho looked up to meet the aged blue eyes that were watching him.

"Mr. Fukamachi, I understand you have questions," Balkus prompted quietly.

"Yes, yes I do," he nodded, clasping his hands together in his lap, and glancing quickly at Imakarum, subconsciously seeking reassurance from his silent presence.

"Why my father? Why did you capture him, use him that way? He knew nothing, he was no threat to you," Sho asked.

"No, no he was not a threat to us. He had already been captured by the time I arrived in Japan, along with your two friends, but from what I understand; Guyot had the three of them captured on the advice of Agito Makishima. Makishima informed him that your biggest weakness was your desperate desire to hang on to your normal life, that taking that away would bring you to heel," Balkus said, meeting his eyes evenly.

"Makishima," Sho whispered, his mouth dry.

He wished he could doubt that, but somehow the knowledge that Makishima had been playing his own game, playing with their lives even then, saddened him rather than shocked him.

"So once you had him, why did you make him…that?"

"Part of it was to prevent Guyot suspecting my purpose in coming to Japan, he would have been suspicious had I not done something with his prisoner, another part was scientific curiosity, about the Enzyme design, and the effect it's use in such a way would have on you, and still another part; our mission was to retrieve the Guyver units, to keep them from falling into Guyot's hands, among other reasons. I did what I deemed necessary to carry out that mission."

"Do you regret it?" Sho asked, watching him closely. He wondered about the meaning of the glance those blue eyes shot at the silently listening Imakarum, but the look wasn't acknowledged, and the eyes moved back to Sho.

"I…I have my regrets about that day, but I cannot honestly say I regret trying to achieve our mission. Your father's death was unfortunate, but once he was captured, his fate was sealed. Even if I had not activated him when you retrieved him the second time, he would not have lived, his optimization was incomplete."

"So if you don't regret what you did, what is there to regret?" Sho asked sharply.

"I regret misjudging the reason Murakami had joined your group, I mistook attachment for expedience. I regret that I did not contact him when I realized he had gone outside his original mission parameters, had I realized that he actually cared what happened to you, I would have found some way to ensure your father died in the tank, before processing ever got to the stage where he could be removed. Once he was out, and you had come for him, there was no going back," Balkus sighed.

"Did he suffer?"

"Optimization is painless, for those who are not lost numbers, he felt nothing then. Once I awakened the Enzyme, he was aware of very little, he felt some pain when he fought me, both from that, and his injuries, but his death…the mega-smasher beam vaporized him instantly, he knew nothing about it, and certainly never felt it," Balkus said.

"That's enough, I don't want to hear anymore," Sho whispered, his throat almost painfully tight.

Imakarum tilted his head toward the door, and Balkus rose, silently withdrawing from the room.

"I never had a chance to save him, did I?" Sho asked Imakarum as soon as the old man was gone, a single tear tracking down his face as he waited for his answer.

"No," Imakarum told him quietly.

Sho swallowed hard, trying to get his emotions under control, but it was too late, the dam broke and he started to cry, for the first time since that day. Imakarum shifted slightly, not entirely comfortable with the emotional storm he was witnessing, but he hesitantly moved over and wrapped an arm around Sho's shoulders, forcing himself not to flinch as Sho turned and latched onto him, jarring his side as he sobbed into his shoulder.

/x/

Archanfel looked over as Balkus came into the office where he was going over the latest reports from their spies with Shin and de Galenos, trying to narrow down possible locations for the base of the Zeus Thunderbolts.

"Well, we heard no explosions, and you still live, so can we assume it went at least fairly well?" he asked dryly.

"I handled it as you asked; I was honest but curbed my bluntness as best I could. Imakarum dismissed me when the boy became too distressed to want to know any more, so I am not certain where things stand now," Balkus said, moving to take his own seat and pulling over a section of the reports.

"Masaki should be here shortly, I dare say he can fill us in on Mr. Fukamachi's current state of mind," Archanfel sighed. He sensed no anger in his son, which was a positive sign, but the sense of bone deep weariness that he was currently projecting was worrying in its own way.

Imakarum came in a moment later, his robes flowing around him as he walked over to the table and dropped gracelessly into a chair, grimacing when he remembered too late his tender side as it protested the impact of his body on the seat.

"How did Mr. Fukamachi deal with his conversation with Hamilcar?" Archanfel asked him.

"He's upset, but I think he'll be ok, I left him with his friends."

"But you do not get the feeling he is ready to run from us again?"

"No, he knew he wasn't going to like what he heard going in, he just wanted the truth," Imakarum sighed, massaging the bridge of his nose tiredly.

"It was not pleasant, but getting it done early was for the best," he shrugged, allowing the visor to drop back into place.

"So you think they are ready to meet the remaining Zoalords tomorrow?" Archanfel asked.

"Yes. Tetsuro is curious about the labs, he will probably be interested in talking to you, Hamilcar," he said, tilting his head slightly in Balkus's direction.

The old man looked as if he were going to dismiss the notion out of hand, but then his gaze turned thoughtful.

"The boy is not unintelligent, perhaps if his interest is genuine, he could be permitted to see some of the non classified material, in the short term," he acknowledged.

"Good, perhaps that would help settle his somewhat irrational fear that I am intent on forcing them out of Sho's life," he said, shaking his head slightly, and taking the section of reports that was slid over to him, opening the file.

"When did these come in?" he asked, looking at the top sheet, which was a list of reported Zoanoid losses from the American sectors.

"That section, about two hours ago. Why?" de Galenos asked.

"Either Makishima is getting sloppy, or he's baiting a trap. They're in the Rockies, or at least, they were in the last six hours or so," he said, sliding the sheet he was looking at over onto the projector embedded in the desk so that it lit up on a large display.

"What is it?" Balkus asked.

"The pattern of reported losses moves out from the Rocky Mountains in a loose spiral, not too obvious, but it is there, and then, it starts moving back in again. Either his rage over the death of the female has driven him to engage in a killing spree against the Zoanoids, or he wants us to know where he is," he pointed out.

"Either way, confronting him on his own territory would be a dangerous move," Archanfel frowned.

"And not confronting him could lead to him making even more attacks to get our attention. We can't afford to have him wiping out large numbers of our troops, just to get us to notice him."

"So, it is more than likely a trap, but for whom?" Archanfel mused.

"You think he knows about Sho and the others already?" Imakarum asked.

"It would not surprise me, so the question is; is the trap aimed at getting us into it's jaws in the Rocky Mountains, or at getting us away from here so that the jaws can close on Fukamachi and his humans?"

"Or both," Shin offered.

"No, not both. He cannot have replaced his proto-Zoa'lady' this quickly. He might be willing to use the Liberatus without her, but I do not think he would do so without having them under direct supervision. Hamilcar, Shin, go to the Ark, there should be enough power stored now for the two of you to be able to move it between you. Shift the orbital point so that it is over the mountain range, and then run detailed scans. I want to know what, if anything is going on there. de Galenos, Masaki, start checking incoming flights, we're looking for any indication of a lot of last minute or late bookings, and any names that are on the suspect lists of anti Chronos terrorists."

The four rose and bowed, before turning for the door.

"Masaki, a moment," Archanfel called quietly.

Imakarum waited as the other left, moving back to stand beside the desk.

"I am going to be stepping up the alert status of this base, I suggest you warn Mr. Fukamachi and his friends. It would not do for them to think we are holding important information back from them already," Archanfel told him.

"Of course," Imakarum nodded.

"Good, run along then. You have about five minutes before I step us up."

Imakarum nodded once more, and then was gone.

/x/

Tetsuro opened the door at the sound of the firm rap, raising his eyebrows in surprise at the sight of Imakarum. The Zoalord was radiating more tension than Tetsuro had ever seen in him.

"Are you all here?" Imakarum asked bluntly.

"Uh, Sho is in his room, with Mizuki, he's still kind of upset, Natsuki and I are out here," he said, stepping back to allow him inside.

"I need you to get them, you all need to hear this," he said in a tone that brooked no argument.

For a moment, he thought that Tetsuro was going to argue anyway, but then with a frown he went over and knocked once on the bedroom door, before swinging it open.

"You two need to come out for a minute, Lord Imakarum is here, he wants to talk to us, all of us," he said.

They appeared a moment later, Sho's eyes still red any puffy, his face streaked with the tears he had shed, Mizuki following right behind him, holding his hand tightly.

"Sorry Sho, but I don't have much time, I have to get to the control room. The base is about to go on high alert, Makishima is up to something. I need you to promise me you won't leave your quarters without an escort until everything settles again, we have to know where you four are, in case of emergencies. If we need to evacuate you in a hurry, we can't be looking for you."

"What is he doing?"

"We're not sure yet, but I doubt it will be good, he's killed 237 Zoanoids _that we know of _in the last six hours, and he possibly knows the four of you are with us."

"I want to go with you," Sho said instantly.

"Sho, just stay here, please, we're not doing anything but checking at the moment. If and when the time comes to take action, I will tell you, and if you really want to fight him, I won't stand in your way," Imakarum said firmly.

Sho looked mutinous for a heartbeat, and then nodded slowly.

"All right, we'll stay right here," he said in resignation.

"Good, I have to go. Nagano or Akira will come by to check on you every couple of hours, and if you need to move out, it will be them that comes for you. Don't go anywhere with anyone other than them, or me. Ok?"

"Ok," Sho agreed quietly.

Imakarum was gone without another word, the door clicking softly shut behind him. A moment later, there was a short burst on a klaxon, and red emergency lights came on over every door in the rooms. Tetsuro risked a quick peek out into the corridor, seeing soldiers hurrying both ways along the corridor, which was now solely lit by the blood red emergency lights.

"Do you really think he would attack this place, with the remaining Zoalords all based here?" Mizuki asked, puzzled.

"No, but he might try to lure them away first. Something must have put them on edge like that. I think he's angry at them for Shizu, and angry at us for what he probably sees as a betrayal, and that's made him underestimate them," Tetsuro sighed, flopping down onto the sofa and staring blankly at the red glow of the emergency light over his bedroom door.

"I'm going back to my room," Sho said, walking away from them. Mizuki made to follow him, and he put a gentle hand on her arm, halting her.

"Let me be alone for a little while, please," he said quietly.

She nodded and stepped back, falling into one of the armchairs as Natsuki sank down beside Tetsuro.

"Sho…you're not planning on going out of the window and doing something stupid are you?" Tetsuro asked idly.

"I learn my lessons Tetsuro, I promised I would stay here and I will. I just want to be by myself for a bit," he said, stepping inside and closing the door behind him.

/x/

Imakarum strode into the control room, glancing over at de Galenos as he started firing up one of the vacant computer stations.

"What are you on?" he asked.

"I have started immediately after the Alaska incident, and am working forwards."

"Good, then I will start with planes due to land in the next 72 hours and work my way back," Imakarum said, his fingers flying over the keys far faster than event their best computer experts could manage as he started hacking the airline systems.

tbc


	14. Chapter 14

Sho glanced at the clock as Tetsuro started channel hopping again when the film they had been watching ended.

"It's 3am," he said quietly.

"I know, and the base is still on alert. I wonder what's going on," Tetsuro replied, looking up at the red lights.

"We'll have to see if Nagano or Akira can tell us anything when they check in," Sho sighed, taking the remote away from Tetsuro and switching the TV off.

"What are you doing?" Tetsuro complained.

"We should get some sleep. I'll sleep on the sofa, as the girls are in my room."

There was a tap at the door, light enough that they wouldn't be woken if they were asleep, and Sho opened it to let Akira in.

"I wasn't sure if you would still be up," he said, stepping inside.

"We were just about to turn in. What's going on out there?" Tetsuro asked.

"I don't know much, Lord Balkus and Lord Aminculus haven't come back yet, and Lord Imakarum, Lord Archanfel and Lord de Galenos are still closeted in the control room."

"Still? But it's been hours," Tetsuro said.

"I know. We're not likely to hear anything more tonight anyway. If you're going to sleep now, I'll leave you guys alone until morning, unless something happens of course. Where are the girls?"

"Asleep in there, we thought it would be better if we all stuck together."

"Good, get some rest, we'll see you in the morning." Akira nodded, leaving again.

"I'll get you a pillow and a blanket from my room," Tetsuro told Sho, going into his bedroom and grabbing the spares from his closet.

"Thanks," Sho said, spreading them on the sofa.

/x/

Archanfel saw Imakarum lean back from his console with a soft sigh, wincing slightly as the younger Zoalord stretched until his spine cracked.

"We may have a problem," Imakarum said without turning.

"What kind of problem?" Archanfel asked as de Galenos also leaned back from his console.

"There are a number of suspected anti Chronos terrorists either already on the ground here, or due to land in the next few hours, from America. Several of them have connections with suspected terrorists based here in Japan. There is also one _known _anti Chronos agitator who has apparently vanished from his usual haunts in the States, Major Donovan Walker hasn't booked onto any commercial flight to Japan, but with his Airforce connections, that doesn't mean much," Imakarum told him.

"There are private aircraft landing every day," de Galenos agreed.

"Is there any connection between any of these people and Makishima?" Archanfel asked.

"Unknown, we've never been able to identify any members of the Thunderbolts, so connecting them to any other terrorist groups is impossible. Their arrival here just at the moment Makishima starts causing trouble in America though, it can't be a coincidence. It looks like he has found a way to attack here while he remains in Colorado." de Galenos pointed out.

"Then we evacuate, and they attack an empty facility," Archanfel shrugged, not seeing the problem.

"We can't evacuate completely, not right now," Imakarum sighed.

"Masaki?"

"The new zoanoids that Hamilcar has in production cannot be removed from their tanks yet, and losing them would be…unfortunate. What's more, I believe Makishima knows we can't go anywhere right now, he's trying to split our forces, I wouldn't mind betting that when Hamilcar and Shin come back, they will report that whatever Makishima is up to in Colorado has to be dealt with immediately."

"You're implying we have more traitors in our midst?" Archanfel asked.

"I'm not implying it, I'm stating it outright," Imakarum told him bluntly.

"Perhaps…" de Galenos started, and then trailed off, unsure how to say this without seriously offending Imakarum.

"No, neither Fukamachi nor his humans have had any contact with anyone outside of this base since they arrived here, and they didn't know where they were being brought to when they came to me in Shinjuku. Even if they were inclined to betray us, which I do not believe for one moment, they have not had the opportunity," Imakarum told him, realizing what the other was trying to work out how to say.

"Well, there is no way it can be the optimized staff, which leaves us with the un-optimized," Archanfel sighed.

"Of which there are several hundred, if you count all of the lab staff and support staff. We don't have the time to start interrogations on that scale now," Imakarum pointed out.

"Keep tracking your suspects for the moment, it would be precipitous to make any plans before Hamilcar and Shin return," Archanfel told them, sweeping from the room.

The two turned back to their consoles, and set about getting tails on everyone already on the ground, and making sure that the rest would be intercepted on landing.

"We should just kill them now," de Galenos grumbled softly.

"What for? Leave them to make their petty and puerile little plots and we get their contacts as well when they come here to attack us. They're only human, and we know they're coming, what harm can they really do?" Imakarum shrugged.

/x/

Archanfel stood on the roof, looking out over the city as he waited for Balkus and Shin to arrive, they had reported leaving the Ark a few minutes ago, so they should be here any moment.

"Well?" he demanded as soon as they landed.

"There is a lot of activity out there, they seem to have over one hundred Liberatus gathered there, along with what appears to be a stolen transport that they are busy repairing," Balkus reported.

"They're going after the Ark," Archanfel growled.

"I don't understand, why would Makishima want to draw our attention to it if he plans to attack the Ark?" Shin asked.

"To split our forces," Archanfel sighed, realizing Masaki had been right.

"Split our forces?" Balkus questioned.

"This base is also under threat," the supreme Zoalord told them, leading the way back inside.

"I thought Makishima couldn't attack in two places at once?" Shin asked.

"It seems he has found a way, by utilizing human terrorists. Come, we will rejoin the others, and you can report fully on what you found."

A few minutes later, the five of them were looking at the data that had been brought from the Ark.

"Where the hell did he get his hands on a transport?" Imakarum asked.

"At a guess, the base in Arizona, we would have been informed if they had taken it from the Dead Sea base, and the only other base that had a transport was Arizona," Balkus said.

"I thought everything had been destroyed."

"Not destroyed enough, it seems." Archanfel put in dryly.

"So there's no telling what else they might have managed to salvage, wonderful," Imakarum sighed.

"There wasn't much in the lower levels, and all of the upper levels were definitely obliterated. They may have managed to get hold of some of the prototype weapons we were working on for un-optimized staff, but even in the event that they can reverse engineer them, it would do them little good," Balkus offered with a small frown.

"Weren't those prototypes abandoned because of the power pack issue?" Shin asked.

"Precisely. Half a dozen shots, and the power packs will overheat and the whole thing turns into a nasty little explosive," Balkus nodded.

"A bright side to look forward to then," Imakarum smirked.

"Unfortunately, we cannot rely on all of our enemies blowing themselves up. Hamilcar, you will remain here with Masaki, as your new Zoanoids cannot be removed from their tanks yet. Keep what troops you think you will need to defend that lab, and evacuate the rest with the non essential personnel. I will take Shin with me to Colorado, de Galenos, you will go to the Ark, in case we are too late to stop that transport getting off the ground, if it gets into orbit, bring it down before it can get to the Ark," Archanfel ordered.

_/And Masaki, I want the spy issue attended to, I will not have our position given to our enemies willy nilly,/ _he privately instructed his son.

_/I will see to it that none of the suspect groups have a chance to communicate with anyone before we can interrogate them,/ _Imakarum assured him in return.

_/Good./_

"Let's move," Archanfel said aloud.

Imakarum glanced at Balkus as the other three Zoalords left.

"Select the Zoanoids you want to keep here, the rest are to round up all of the un-optimized personnel and keep them incommunicado all through the evacuation, and they are to be secured on arrival at the new location. I am taking Nagano and Akira with me for the moment."

"More spies?" Balkus asked in disgust.

"More spies," Imakarum confirmed, summoning the two Zoanoids as he left the room.

/x/

Sho woke grudgingly as someone shook his shoulder firmly.

"Wha'?" he grunted, still more asleep than awake.

"Sho, I need you to wake up," Imakarum said close to his ear.

"Wha' time 's it?" he slurred, forcing his eyes open to look up at the Zoalord leaning over him.

"A little after four in the morning, come on, up you get," Imakarum pressed, half pulling Sho up so that he was sitting upright.

Akira and Nagano stepped out of the bedrooms then, shepherding the other three, who looked about as awake as Sho felt.

"Come on, time to go now Sho," Imakarum chivvied him.

"What's going on?" Sho asked, suddenly wide awake now.

"You're being moved to another base with most of the other personnel from here, there's going to be an attack here, and we're not taking any chances."

"I'm staying then," Sho said, getting up.

"Sho, you can't stay," Imakarum sighed.

"You said if it came to a battle you wouldn't stand in my way," Sho reminded him, ignoring Tetsuro and Mizuki as they protested quietly.

"It isn't Makishima we're going to be fighting here Sho, Lord Archanfel already left to deal with what he's planning. It's humans we're going to be fighting here Sho, terrorists sure, but humans none the less. Can you honestly say you're willing to kill humans Sho?" Imakarum asked a little coldly.

Sho opened his mouth and then closed it again, looking at the floor.

"Isn't there another way?"

"No, there isn't. Do you think they're going to hesitate to kill me, or anyone else who they come across here?"

"Then you leave too," Sho said angrily.

"I can't, Lord Balkus and I have to stay here, and you have to go. I can't prove Makishima is behind this attack Sho, but I'm damn sure he is, and they may well be looking for you four."

"Come on Sho," Mizuki said wide eyed, holding out one hand to him.

He took a couple of steps closer to where the three of them stood with Nagano and Akira, and then stopped, looking back over his shoulder at Imakarum.

"I'm staying," he said again.

"Damn it Sho, what are you doing?" Tetsuro demanded.

"I mean it, I'm staying. Please get them to safety," he said, looking steadily at the visor covered eyes.

Imakarum reluctantly nodded to the two Zoanoids, and the three protesting humans were hustled from the room, heading down toward where the troop transports were already starting to fill.

"I hope you know what you're doing Sho," Imakarum sighed.

"I may be unwilling to kill humans, but I am willing to watch your back," Sho told him.

"Come on then," Imakarum told him, leaving the room.

"Are you angry at me for not leaving?" Sho asked as he followed the silent Zoalord through the deserted corridors.

"No, I'm just hoping you won't regret your insistence on staying. I'm not going to hold back Sho, if they're foolish enough to attack us, they will die," Imakarum told him.

"Can't you capture them instead?" Sho asked softly.

"You would prefer that they be processed then? That's what will happen to any who are taken alive," he pointed out.

"Are you _trying _to make me regret coming to you?" Sho demanded.

Imakarum stopped walking and turned to face him, looking suddenly very demonic in the red light.

"No, but I'm not going to lie to you or coddle you either. This is a war Sho, and we will win this war by whatever means we have to, because if we lose, everyone loses."

Sho stared at him for a long moment, and then shot him a sad smile.

"Reminds me of a film I saw once; the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few," he said.

"Yeah, well I'm not planning on suffering the same fate as Spock," Imakarum snorted, turning to start walking again.

Sho felt his jaw drop, he would never have pegged the Zoalord as a sci-fi fan. Shaking it off, he caught up with Imakarum before he vanished around the corner, resolved to ask him about it when they weren't about to get into a battle.

/x/

Archanfel and Shin checked out the enemy base from a high enough altitude that they wouldn't be detected by their prey.

"It looks like the transport is almost ready to go," Shin said softly.

"Yes, I see that. We must be sure that Makishima has not scurried off elsewhere before we strike though. If we attack prematurely, we may miss our chance at him."

"Archanfel, I have a bad feeling about this," Shin told him softly as they surveyed the mountain top base, and they saw Heckaring controlling the Liberatus with an electronic device.

"Yes," Archanfel agreed softly.

"Shin, join de Galenos in case Makishima is actually targeting the Ark while our attention is here. I will deal with this place," Archanfel decided.

"And if Makishima has gone after the others while we are here?"

"I will warn them to be on their guard, now go," Archanfel commanded.

Shin left to join his comrade on the Ark, and Archanfel focused telepathically on his son.

_/Masaki, Makishima does not appear to be in the mountains. You and Hamilcar must be on your guard, child./_

_/…understood…/ _Imakarum finally sent back.

Satisfied that Imakarum would be on alert for Makishima showing up there, Archanfel called up his battle form, and started to float down toward the base, constantly alert for the possibility that Makishima was waiting there to ambush him after all.

/x/

"What is it?" Balkus asked as Imakarum snarled softly, making Sho jump.

"Makishima doesn't appear to be where we thought he was, we are to be on guard. Hamilcar, move some of the troops up to the roof to watch for a possible aerial attack, I'm going to check that we haven't lost any of the Zoanoids who were trailing our suspects," Imakarum said, heading over to the communications console.

"Sho, can you sense Makishima anywhere near here?" Imakarum asked as he waited for his men to signal back.

"No, but I don't think I can unless he's actually fighting. Sorry."

"Keep alert, even a niggling suspicion you can feel him, yell," Imakarum told him, turning his attention back to the console.

/x/

de Galenos turned as Shin came onto the command deck, looking at him in surprise.

"I thought you were with Lord Archanfel?"

"He sent me up here, we've lost Makishima. He can handle the situation in the Rockies, so it's up to us to make sure that Guyver 3 doesn't manage to damage the Ark, if that's his plan."

"Well, the only thing I have seen outside the atmosphere is you, so far. He will more likely target Imakarum, he seems to hate him above even Lord Archanfel," de Galenos sighed.

"Imakarum can handle Guyver 3 at least long enough for Archanfel to get to them, if it comes to it."

de Galenos nodded and the two of them turned back to monitoring for any sign of Guyver 3 approaching the Ark.

/x/

"Half a dozen of our people haven't checked in, all of them last reported in within a mile of one another. Sho, can you block Makishima from accessing the Guyver Gigantic?"

"I…I don't know, I've managed to pull it away from him once, but he seems to be able to control it over my will more often."

"Can you tell if he summons it?"

"I've never tried."

Imakarum took a deep breath and pushed away from the panel, turning to face them.

"The surviving spies indicate that they are all within sixty minutes of this location. Hamilcar, stay in the lab, protecting those Zoanoids is your primary concern, Sho will come with me," Imakarum said.

"Imakarum, you…"

"Do not, Hamilcar, do not finish what you were about to say. We each have our duties to perform in the coming battle, and I have given you yours. Sho, come on," Imakarum said sharply, stalking for the door.

Sho looked back over his shoulder at Balkus before he followed, and felt a little chilled at the worry in those faded blue eyes as they followed Imakarum from the room.

"I'll watch out for him," Sho blurted, unsure what exactly had prompted him to make the promise. He hurried out after Imakarum without waiting for a reply.

"You cannot protect him from himself, Fukamachi-kun," Balkus sighed, settling down to check that all his Zoanoids were in position.

tbc


	15. Chapter 15

Sho followed behind Imakarum at a trot as the taller man strode along the corridors, fairly radiating irritation.

"He was worried about you," Sho commented, panting slightly from trying to speak while maintaining the pace Imakarum was setting.

"Leave it alone, Sho," Imakarum warned softly, turning into another corridor.

Sho fell silent, hurrying behind him as he pressed his palm to a biometric plate beside a door. Light flashed across his hand, and the door opened, allowing the two to step into Imakarum's quarters.

"What happens if the power goes off?" Sho asked, eyeing the door suspiciously.

"The biometric locks have internal power, if the building power goes out, the locks can still be released, and moving the doors is no challenge to a Zoalord," Imakarum told him, already vanishing into what Sho supposed was the bedroom.

A moment later, he heard a metallic sound which he guessed was Imakarum's armor, an assumption that was proved right when he stepped back out again, locking the wrist guards closed before pulling on one of his gloves.

"We're heading to the roof, do you want to go via your quarters and pick up a jacket?" he asked.

Sho glanced at the window, where the dawn light was starting to filter in, and shook his head.

"No, it isn't that cold out there," he decided.

"Very well, come on," Imakarum told him, palming the plate on the inside of the door, and pulling his other glove on as he turned off along the corridor in the direction they had come in.

There were Zoanoids edging the flat roof when they arrived there, the light breeze stirring Imakarum's long hair and cloak as he stood still, sharp eyes scanning out across the city, the direction the humans were most likely to come from.

"He's coming, Makishima is coming," Sho said quietly.

"Can you tell how far away he is?" Imakarum asked without turning.

"Close, within the city I think. He must be with them, with the terrorists he organized to attack here."

"It isn't too late for you to leave, Sho."

"Yes it is, it was too late for me to leave from the moment I put us all in your hands. Even if we left now, started to run again, he would never forgive us for what he sees as an ultimate betrayal. Besides, I might not want to fight the humans, but him I can fight."

"Sho?"

"He handed my father over to Guyot without a thought. All his rage, all his vengeance because Genzo Makishima betrayed his parents, drove them to suicide, in the name of Chronos, and he handed my father over without hesitation, not to mention Mizuki, who he had to have known was head over heels for him, and Tetsuro, just because they were my friends," Sho said, his voice shaking. Imakarum wasn't sure if it was tears or rage causing the tremor, and he didn't ask, he simply nodded his understanding.

"Then we wait," Imakarum said.

/x/

Archanfel didn't bother calling up his Zoaform as he dropped faster toward the clearing below as the Liberatus started to file onto the transport. His aim was to get that control device that Heckaring was using, if he could, along with Heckaring himself, of course, he was fairly certain Hamilcar wanted a little chat with that traitor. He wanted to avoid destroying the Liberatus if possible, they were handy fighters, it was possible they could be re-engineered and recreated for Chronos use, if he could get these ones for study.

Landing in the clearing right beside the transport, Archanfel destroyed the propulsion systems with a wave of his hand, a ball of golden energy obliterating them.

"Surrender," he said simply, looking directly at Heckaring.

"Not a chance in hell," Heckaring snorted, twisting controls on the unit he held, bringing the Liberatus back out.

"How apt, that is what you have if you resist me." Archanfel mocked.

"More chance than I have if I let you take me back to Balkus," he growled, twisting more controls and looking at the Zoanoids nearest to him.

"Our primary objective is out of reach, secondary target confirmed. Kill him," he ordered.

Archanfel sighed, shaking his head in mock exasperation.

"You spent entirely too much time around Guyot and his rebellious notions," he said, grabbing the first Liberatus to reach him by the throat and tossing it over the heads of the others without effort, it crashed through the tree line, shaking leaves off the branches as it impacted.

"Surrender," he said again.

"We will kill you," one of the Liberatus grated out.

"Why?" he asked in a tone of curiosity.

"We obey our orders," it said after a long hesitation.

"Why?" he asked again.

The hesitation was much longer this time.

"We obey," it said.

"That doesn't answer the question," he pointed out, raising his barrier as a number of them came within reach of their long arms.

"Don't talk to him, kill him," Heckaring screamed in frustration, twisting one of the controls again.

"Why doesn't he want you to talk to me, you have minds of your own, don't you?" Archanfel taunted.

"We obey," it ground out, but it sounded like it was struggling now.

"I could understand your obedience when you had your commander, she was designed to rule you, but what are you obeying now? Heckaring and a box of electronics, that's what. Makishima got your commander killed, and now he is using you, sacrificing you, because without her, he has no further use for you," Archanfel sneered.

"You killed her, you killed Griselda, not Makishima," another said.

"No, I did not. She was killed by one of my Zoalords, yes, but she died because Makishima was arrogant, because he did not bother to make sure she was defended when he came to attack us. The same arrogance that makes him now dismiss you as expendable because he thinks you are of no further use to him."

"Lies," Heckaring yelled.

"I am not lying, and if you're honest with yourselves, you know it," said calmly, making sure that the more enraged Heckaring became, the calmer he sounded.

"Just kill him, you have your orders, carry them out," the scientist screamed, twisting one of the controls on the box he held to it's furthest extreme.

The closest Liberatus smacked the box out of his hand, sending it sailing across the clearing to smash into a tree.

"We fight Chronos because we choose to, not because you force us to," the Liberatus leader growled, shoving Heckaring none to gently aside.

"You cannot sway us, fight," he snarled at Archanfel.

The Zoalord hid his smile, he could see a couple of them weren't too sure of that assertion, and even taking a couple of them back to the labs would be worthwhile.

"Then come," he said lightly, dropping his barrier and lifting off the ground slightly. He knew he had nothing to fear from an attack by the Liberatus in this form, although he would be slightly more wary if they changed to their second or third stages.

/x/

The silence was shattered by the thud of a mortar taking out a section of the high wall surrounding the grounds to the side of the building.

"It begins," Imakarum sighed, flexing his fingers to extend his claws as Sho summoned his Guyver in preparation as black clad figures carrying machine guns poured in through the breach.

_/West wall, Hamilcar. No sign of Guyver 3 yet,/_he informed the older Zoalord.

_/I have them, directing Zoanoids to the west of the building. Be careful Imakarum,/ _Balkus sent in return.

Imakarum didn't bother to respond, glancing instead over his shoulder at Sho.

"Makishima?" he asked.

"I can still sense him, but he doesn't seem to be getting any closer at the moment. I think he's just waiting for the right moment to strike."

"Can you tell if he has accessed the Gigantic armor?"

Sho concentrated on trying to block out the rattle of machine gun fire as he tried to sense where the other armor was.

"No, it's still inactive in the other dimension." Sho finally said, glancing down at where the black clad figures were fighting for survival against the Zoanoids that had engaged them.

He felt his stomach twist as he saw a Gregole literally rip one of the attackers in two, but there was nothing he could do about it. He forced himself to look away, trying to harden his heart to the human blood that was being spilled down there, attacking had been their own choice, no matter how horrible it was.

"Stop him getting it, if you can."

"I'll try," he agreed.

There was the distinctive sound of another mortar launching, and a section of the roof was reduced to dust and bloody rubble as the Zoanoids who had been standing there were ripped apart by the explosion. Sho had instinctively leapt back from the explosion, and he looked desperately for Imakarum as the dust started to settle, and was relieved to see him floating a few meters away, completely unruffled inside his barrier.

"I'm going after that mortar, stay here incase they breach the building, and watch your back, Sho," Imakarum said, taking flight in the direction the explosive had come from.

"I'm supposed to be watching yours," Sho muttered, gaining altitude so that he could watch for Makishima while still keeping half an eye on Imakarum and the building at the same time.

Imakarum located the mortar quickly, mounted in the back of a black jeep, he formed an incision wave, lowering his barrier to hurl it at the car, not bothering to watch as the vehicle, along with a good portion of the street, were wiped from existence. He heard something whistling through the air toward him, and turned quickly to face the sound, his barrier already coming up again, even as his eyes widened, identifying the missile. A weighted, metallic looking net wrapped around his barrier, and lightning tore across the surface, seeking a way through to him. He recognized that weapon, it was used to subdue rogue Zoanoids in testing facilities, and the voltage was only slightly lower than what was generated by the Elegen class hyper-Zoanoids when it was turned up to full power, it wouldn't do any serious harm to a Zoalord, but it would certainly be enough to knock him out of the sky.

"Nice try," he sneered, teleporting away from the net. Deprived of its target, the net fell to the street below, inert now.

Reappearing close to where the net had to have been fired from, his eyes scanned the parkland below, looking for any sign of movement. A flash of black under a tree caught his eye, just as a second electro-net was launched at him. He dropped altitude quickly, letting the net pass harmlessly over his head, before plummeting toward the figure that had launched it. He knew he had miscalculated when he crushed the man's throat as soon as he landed, and realized that the man was smirking as he died. The third net wrapped around him before he even heard the crack of it being fired, and he couldn't hold back a scream as the voltage surged through his body.

/x/

Archanfel shook the blood off his hand, looking down at his gore splattered robes wryly before looking back up at the last two Liberatus, the two who had held back from the battle. There was no sign of Heckaring, the scientist had fled while he was occupied, but Archanfel knew it wouldn't be difficult to find him again, there was nothing for miles around here.

"Will you surrender to me?" he asked the two.

"What happens to us if we do?" one asked wearily.

"Does it matter? You have few options, surrender to me, attempt to fight me, or employ your self destruct mode," Archanfel pointed out.

"We cannot shift stages without orders from our commander, whatever commander that might be," the second muttered, looking at the shattered box of electronics under the tree where they had fallen.

Archanfel shook his head, deciding that if they did manage to re-engineer the design, that was going to have to change. Zoanoids who couldn't shift forms when necessary would be less efficient, he didn't much approve of the self destruct mode anyway, but not letting them access it was foolish.

"Will you surrender?" he asked again.

"Will you give us the chance to face Makishima, to prove to him that we shouldn't have been dismissed as useless?" the first asked.

"Gladly," Archanfel agreed instantly, it would be another way to throw Makishima off balance, another nail in his coffin.

"We surrender," they sighed.

"Good, then all I need to do is track down that treacherous weasel Heckaring, and we're done here," he mused, looking around at the tree line.

"He took off that way when the fight started, he'll be halfway down the mountain now," one commented, pointing.

"Much good that will do him," Archanfel snorted, summoning Shin back from the Ark, but telling de Galenos to remain there as a precaution. They would get Heckaring, and then he would leave the three in Shin's charge while he got back to Japan, he knew now that was where Makishima had to have gone, and he didn't like being so far from Masaki with Guyver 3 loose.

/x/

Imakarum shook off the stunning effects of the net quickly, but lay still, playing possum and listening, to figure out what was going on around him. He could hear three men muttering to one another, and he was hard pressed not to snarl as one of them kicked him in the back in passing as he pulled out a radio.

"Major, this is Sanders, do you read me Major?" the man called into the radio.

There was a loud wash of static, and then a crackly reply.

"Donovan here, go ahead Sanders."

"Tell Mr. Makishima that we have that Zoalord he wanted, we netted him a few minutes ago, he's out cold at the moment. Sector two C."

"Will do, well done, we'll be there directly. Donovan out."

Imakarum waited until he heard the radio being shoved back into a pocket, and the three men start talking to each other again before setting his claws against the net. The metallic mesh couldn't stand up to the razor sharp claws of the Zoalord, and within seconds he was free, and stalking toward the three unaware men in a predatory fashion. One of them glanced back to check on him, and died with the yell gurgling in his throat as Imakarum's claws slashed across the vulnerable flesh. The other two were reaching for their guns as they turned, but they never cleared their holsters before they too were lying dead in the grass, their throats torn out.

"Amateurs," he sneered at the three corpses, before flitting into the trees to wait for Makishima and Donovan to turn up.

/x/

The black armored figure turned to watch the sandy haired American hurrying up to him.

"Who was on the radio?" he asked.

"Sanders, they got the target you wanted," Donovan reported with a grin.

"How?" he asked dubiously.

"They got him with one of those nets, fried him. He's unconscious and waiting for you, in sector two C," he replied smugly.

"You realize they're more than likely dead," Makishima snorted.

"My men are not fools," Donovan snapped.

"As you wish, lead on," Makishima said, a faint note of mockery in the synthesized voice, he knew that one of those Zoanoid nets couldn't contain a Zoalord, but Imakarum might be over confidant enough to wait to face him.

"What the hell?" Donovan hissed when they reached the area where his men had captured the Zoalord to find three corpses and a shredded net.

"I warned you," Makishima said bluntly, before looking around at the trees, sensors searching.

"I know you're here," he shouted as he located Imakarum standing in the trees.

"Of course I'm here, where else would I be?" Imakarum asked.

He stepped out, part of his mind on the immediate problem, as the other part searched out how close Archanfel was, he could sense that his father had returned to Japan, and he knew that he could keep Makishima busy long enough for him to get back here.

/x/

Sho was feeling tense, jittery. The men attacking the building had all been taken care of, and the Zoanoids were now checking the surrounding area to make sure there were no more, but he hadn't seen any sign of Makishima, and he had lost track of Imakarum.

"Mr. Fukamachi?"

He turned, startled, and saw Balkus floating a few meters from him.

"Yes?" he asked nervously, consciously having to force himself not to power up the Guyver's weapons systems.

"Lord Archanfel is returning, but he has informed me that Imakarum has located Makishima. Where did you see him last?"

"He went to take out the mortar; I lost sight of him not long after that. I'll find them," Sho said, already taking off in the direction Imakarum had been going in the last time he saw him, feeling Makishima's presence growing stronger at the same time, and this time, he had no hesitation in letting the Guyver's weapons power up. He wasn't going to let Makishima hurt _anyone_ else who mattered to him.

tbc


	16. Chapter 16

Sho changed direction rapidly as an explosion shook the air, coming from some parkland to his left; he knew the sound of a pressure cannon blast when he heard one. Following the rising plume of smoke to its source, Sho quickly located Makishima, and a human he didn't know, who was clad in one of the same unmarked black outfits as the rest of the attackers. He couldn't see Imakarum, but judging by the way that Makishima and the other guy were staring into the smoke, he had a shrewd idea where he had been standing.

He heard derisive laughter as he descended, and looked toward the smoke.

"Did you really think it would be that easy?" Imakarum snarled, stepping out of the smoke.

Sho couldn't help the shudder that ran through him at the sight of the black and white battle form, the last time he had seen that form, it had been trying to kill him, no matter how half heartedly. Squelching his nerves ruthlessly, Sho allowed his course to bring him in behind the Zoalord, damn sure he knew he was there.

"No, you're not going to get to die easily, you're going to pay for Shizu," Makishima snarled back.

"My my, your spy has been keeping you well informed if you know it was me, ah well, not for much longer," Imakarum sniped as Sho landed.

"Fukamachi, I should have known you would turn traitor in the end, but I didn't quite believe it until now," Makishima spat as he saw him.

"_I _have betrayed no-one, you on the other hand I'm not so sure of," Sho said simply.

"Whatever, even the two of you cannot hope to defeat me," Makishima said dismissively, and Sho knew that he was going to summon the Gigantic armor.

Sho summoned the Gigantic himself as Imakarum launched himself across the grass at Makishima, breaking his concentration, and sending him sailing backwards to crash into a tree, the thick trunk snapping like a twig under the impact of the armored form. Imakarum dodged back as a humming blade whistled dangerously close to his throat when Makishima launched himself back at the Zoalord, apparently not even winded by the impact. Imakarum grabbed Guyver 3's arm, tossing him away again to land against the wreckage of the same tree, and throwing a glowing ball of energy at him for good measure.

Makishima rolled aside quickly, avoiding the blast and came back up, already firing his pressure cannon at where the Zoalord had been standing, but Imakarum was already gone. Cursing to himself, Makishima scanned quickly, trying to locate his target again, there was no way he was going to allow Imakarum _or _Fukamachi to get the better of him. He would take the Gigantic armor from Guyver 1, destroy Imakarum, and then deal with that snotty little brat Fukamachi for throwing in with Chronos.

Sho felt a mental tug as Makishima tried to pull the Gigantic armor away from him, and stubbornly held on, refusing to let it go. The armor was _his, he _had made it, _he _had granted Guyver 3 access to it, and now _he _was going to take it away again. He refused to let Makishima control him anymore. The tugging stopped, and Guyver 3's head snapped around in his direction, the momentary submission to pure shock costing him as a ball of energy formed in Imakarum's hand, tossed at the stunned Guyver and taking his left arm off at the elbow when he dodged a shade too slowly.

"Damn it," the hissed curse came from the other man, the human who had been all but forgotten in the fight between the more powerful beings.

Glancing over at the man, Sho saw the weapon leveled at Imakarum's unguarded back, sleek and menacing in appearance, it shook slightly as Donovan's hand tightened on the grip when he prepared to fire.

"You're not shooting him in the back," Sho snarled, moving in the blink of an eye to grab the man's wrist, twisting to make him drop the weapon. He heard the bones snap under his grip, but felt no sympathy as the man yelped in pain, the weapon discharging before it fell to the ground, a beam of red energy whipping past Sho toward the two combatants a short distance away.

Imakarum snarled as the energy beam scored across the top of his shoulder, but dismissed the pain, refusing to take his attention off the wounded Guyver, whoever was shooting at him, Sho could deal with.

"Give up, make it easy on yourself," Imakarum said, sounding bored.

"Drop dead," Makishima snarled somewhat childishly, firing his head beam at Imakarum.

It was a low grade weapon, and he had no real hope of it actually damaging the Zoalord, but it did make him back up a step, while he willed his Megasmasher to charge up faster. He never got a chance to fire it, sensing the massively powerful presence of the Guyver Zoalord coming in fast behind him, he turned and warily watched the golden Guyver set down, noticing that the Guyver was smaller than the last time he had encountered it, and only had high frequency blades on the arms now. Knowing that he was badly outnumbered now, he twisted sharply in place, driving his remaining high frequency blade directly at Imakarum, catching him above his left hip and jerking the blade free again before making a break for it, leaving Donovan to his fate.

Imakarum snarled at the flare of pain, hurling an energy ball after the retreating black armored figure. He quashed the pain and locked his knees to keep his feet as he heard Archanfel stop an enraged Sho going after Makishima.

"Fukamachi-kun, there will be other chances to deal with Makishima, _after _we have retrieved that artifact from the traitors. It would be preferable to get his Guyver whole, if we can," Archanfel told him firmly.

Subsiding, Sho sent the Gigantic armor back to the other dimension, content that there was no way that Makishima could take it again, that he had managed to rescind his permission to access it, but he kept his standard armor in place, keeping hold of his prisoner as Archanfel turned his attention to the slightly swaying Imakarum.

"Hold your battle form, Imakarum," Archanfel told him firmly as he gripped his arm securely to halt the sway and keep him upright.

Maintaining the battle form might be a waste of energy that Balkus would complain about, but the form was designed to take more damage than the normal flesh and blood, and that wound would bleed uncontrollably if he retook his 'human' form.

"Fukamachi-kun, you bring your prisoner with you, we need to get back," Archanfel said.

Sho nodded his agreement, and Archanfel let go of Imakarum's arm, registering that the initial shock of the injury had passed and that he was capable of getting himself back to the base now.

/x/

Balkus looked up from the checking the status readouts of the tank he was standing by as the door opened, his eyebrows went up when he saw Sho creeping in uncertainly.

"Something you wanted, Mr. Fukamachi?" he asked, amused to see him jump.

"I wanted to know how Imakarum-san was," Sho told him, hesitating where he was.

"He isn't in here anymore, he was taken out of the tank an hour ago, Guyver 3 managed to do very little damage overall. Four doors down, to the left, on the other side of the corridor, don't wake him if he's sleeping," Balkus said, turning back to his readouts.

"Uh, thank you," Sho said, a little taken aback by the abrupt tone. He shook it off, heading out of the room quickly.

Following the directions he had been given he reached the right door and hesitated, he could hear voices where the door had been left slightly ajar.

"The two Liberatus soldiers and Heckaring have been secured, and Dr. Balkus has been notified about their arrival, my Lord."

"Good, thank you Shin. I would like you to rejoin de Galenos on the Ark for the time being, Guyver 3 is still loose," Archanfel said.

"Of course, I will leave at once," Shin nodded, stepping toward the door.

Sho swallowed, and then moved to push the door open, deciding it was better to let them know he was there, rather than be caught listening, or try to creep away again. He was surprised to see Archanfel sitting on the edge of the bed where Imakarum lay, one hand resting on the bared forearm that held an IV line.

"Fukamachi-kun, what can we do for you?" Archanfel asked.

"I wanted to see Imakarum-san, Dr. Balkus told me he was here," Sho said.

"Did he? Well, you had best come in then," Archanfel said with a faint smile, moving his hand away from Imakarum's arm, but not moving from where he was sitting.

Shin bowed his head in Archanfel's direction, and left the room as Sho moved closer to the bed.

"Is he all right?"

"The injuries have healed, he should be back on his feet in the morning," Archanfel told him, glancing down at his son.

"That's good, when I saw Makishima stab him…"

"He has endured worse injuries. Guyot did considerably more damage when Masaki was nothing more than a prototype," Archanfel said.

"I guess," Sho nodded.

"You should get some rest, Fukamachi-kun, you're going to be joining your friends tomorrow, and it's a long flight," Archanfel suggested.

"All right," Sho nodded, reluctantly leaving.

Archanfel rose when he was gone, turning and leaning down to kiss Imakarum's forehead.

"And you, stop pretending to sleep, and get some rest, or I will have Hamilcar sedate you for the night," he said with a smile.

Golden eyes half opened, and he smiled faintly at Archanfel.

"I will, in a while, I'm not tired."

"That doesn't mean you don't need the rest. I'm sending you with Fukamachi tomorrow, I'll have de Galenos meet you there too, you can get the interrogations underway. I want the spy or spies dealt with," Archanfel said.

"You're getting me out of harm's way," Imakarum accused quietly.

"Yes, that too, with the spy locked down in China, it will take Makishima longer to track you down again, but the situation does need to be dealt with," Archanfel told him unrepentantly.

"Over protective parent," Imakarum snorted.

"Headstrong brat," Archanfel shot back in amusement.

"Rest," he ordered again, more firmly this time.

Imakarum obediently shut his eyes, but Archanfel knew he was unlikely to sleep.

"If you're still awake when Hamilcar comes in to check on you, he will have permission to put you out for the night," he warned quietly.

Imakarum opened his mouth, but closed it again without voicing the protest he had been about to make.

"I will see you before you go in the morning," Archanfel told him, stroking through his hair lightly, and leaving the room, shutting off the lights as he went.

/x/

Sho watched quietly as Imakarum worked at a computer link as the transport headed for its destination.

"How do you know Makishima won't just follow this transport to wherever it's going?" he finally asked.

"China, and while it's possible, it isn't very likely. Three transports left at the same time, all heading in different directions, and if he were to get close enough to the transport to scan who was on it, then you would sense his presence," Imakarum said without looking up from the file he was paging through.

"Oh, that's good. I don't think I'd like it if he knew where the others were after yesterday."

"Yes," Imakarum said distractedly, closing the file he was reading with a frown, and bringing up another one.

"What are you looking for?"

"Hints, anything to make finding our spy a little faster."

"Oh," Sho said again, nodding.

He fidgeted a little, looking out of the window. He wanted to ask Imakarum why Balkus had been so worried about him before the battle, and why Archanfel had been so concerned about him both after the battle, and this morning before they had left, but remembering the Zoalord's annoyance at Balkus, he was afraid to ask.

"There is no need to be so fidgety Sho, your friends will be fine when we arrive," Imakarum told him with a hint of irritation in his tone.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you," he said, forcing himself to sit still, but not telling Imakarum he had the wrong reason for his edginess.

"Its fine," Imakarum told him, his attention already back on the computer screen.

Sho leaned back in his seat, trying to put the thoughts out of his mind; it wasn't as if Imakarum would tell him if anything was wrong anyway. If it hadn't been for Mizuki overhearing a conversation between Murakami and Odagiri at Mt. Minakami, then more than likely no one would have known he was dying back then, and it wasn't as if it could be something that serious, he wasn't a prototype anymore.

/x/

Tetsuro, Mizuki and Natsuki were in the sitting room of the suite the boys had been assigned here in the China office, looking through some booklets that Nagano had given them. The Zoanoid had promised to take them into the city later on so they could look around, as they had never been to China before, and to take their minds off worrying about Sho and what was going on in Japan.

"Come in," Tetsuro called at a light tap at the door.

The door opened and Nagano stuck his head in with a grin.

"Hey guys, it looks like you're going to have more company for your trip into Beijing this afternoon," he told them.

"Sho?" Mizuki asked hopefully, standing up.

"The transport should be landing in around ten minutes; Lord Imakarum summoned me to go to the landing pad to pick Fukamachi up. You coming?"

"You go ahead sis, we'll keep looking at these books," Tetsuro told her with a smirk.

She glared at him, but walked over to join Nagano anyway.

"Thank you, Nagano-san," she said politely.

He grinned at her, leading her out of the room toward the landing pad.

tbc


	17. Chapter 17

Imakarum sighed as he left the interrogation suite, feeling like banging his head against the wall. Three days of interrogations, and they were nowhere, absolutely nowhere. He looked up at the sound of footsteps and saw de Galenos coming to a halt a few feet away from him.

"Anything?" he asked flatly.

"No more than we had when we started this morning," the older Zoalord rumbled softly, shaking his head.

"This is ridiculous, we've interrogated all of them now, and we have six traitors, but not one of them knew the identity of any of the others, and none of them had contact outside of the office. There _has _to be someone we've missed, at least one person that we didn't bring out with the rest who picked up the information our six little traitors dropped, and passed it on to Makishima."

"All un-optimized personnel were evacuated as ordered, I checked with Lord Balkus first thing this morning," de Galenos told him quietly.

Imakarum eyed the stone-like Zoalord for a moment, contemplating.

"All un-optimized personnel, or all un-optimized personnel who were present in the building?" he asked.

"What?"

"Did we only take the people who were inside the building at the time?"

"I don't know, but the office was running at high alert, it should have been fully staffed," de Galenos pointed out.

"Doesn't mean that it was though, does it? Whoever was running that little spy cell was in contact with Makishima, maybe he got enough warning of what was coming to make sure he was elsewhere that day. I want the _full _staff Rota de Galenos, once you have it, compare it with the list of those we brought with us, then we'll know who we're looking for."

"Understood. How sure of the security of _this_ office can we be?" de Galenos asked.

"Yentsui only permitted a handful of un-optimized staff here, he didn't trust them. Those who are here, I interrogated myself, the first night we were here," Imakarum told him distantly, walking away.

de Galenos headed in the opposite direction, going to the communications room to get the files Imakarum wanted sent over.

/x/

Shin looked up curiously as the door to the control deck opened, he had thought he was alone here since Archanfel had sent de Galenos to China; he didn't count the Zoanoid crew, as they had no access to this deck. Seeing the Supreme Zoalord himself step into the chamber, he dropped down on one knee automatically.

"Anything stirring Shin?" Archanfel asked, waving the other man to rise.

"No, my Lord," Shin answered.

"Hmm, I would say then, that Makishima has truly gone to ground. The automatic defenses should have enough power now for me to activate them, so you can go and join Masaki and de Galenos in China. Let them know that Hamilcar and I should be arriving by the end of the week, would you," Archanfel told him, floating up to take his seat in the control column.

"Yes, my Lord," Shin bowed, before leaving the control deck.

Archanfel settled back his seat, closing his eyes and concentrating, linking his mind with the Ark. He waited until he sensed Shin leaving, and brought the defenses online, sealing the Ark against anyone other than himself or Masaki approaching from the outside, or teleporting in. A harsh measure perhaps, but necessary, he decided. Apollyon had already breached the Ark once, attacking Carleon, and he had no wish to leave the great ship vulnerable to another incursion from either him, or the traitors, never mind Guyver 3. Breaking contact with the Ark, Archanfel sent a message to all terminals to tell the crew to remain inside the Ark at all costs, before teleporting away to return to Japan.

He raised an eyebrow when he arrived to find Balkus preparing four squads of Zoanoid troops.

"What's going on?" he asked mildly.

"Hunting parties, Imakarum and de Galenos have discovered that half a dozen staff were not in the building during the evacuation. Two have the excuse that they were on honeymoon, and had been for three weeks, but the other four had all conveniently called in sick that day, and have not reported in since. It could be nothing, but there is at least one spy missing, and Imakarum wants them brought in," Balkus reported.

"Very well, keep me informed," Archanfel ordered.

"Of course," Balkus nodded, sending the squads on their way.

"Did they make any further report?" Archanfel asked once they were alone again.

"de Galenos reported that they had found six low level spies. We had quite a busy little spy cell in our midst," Balkus sighed.

"Well, we were going to need to start processing more of our people sooner rather than later anyway, weren't we? Plans can be put in place when we are all together again at the end of the week. Any trace of Guyver 3?"

"None."

"Hmm, we need to be on alert for him, Hamilcar, a cornered animal is often the most dangerous, and given that he can have very little of his support structure left now, he is definitely well on his way to being cornered."

"Then he will likely turn his fullest attentions onto Imakarum and Fukamachi," Balkus warned.

"I know, Masaki will be wary," Archanfel nodded.

Balkus raised one eyebrow slightly, but kept his opinion on _that_ to himself.

"I am going to the lab, the first series of tests on the Liberatus should be in."

"Ah, good, inform me as soon as you know if you can recreate the design, and re-engineer those two. Have you decided what you're going to do with Heckaring yet?"

"Not yet, I think I will let him sweat until we go to China," Balkus mused.

"Good, good, just make sure there are no tracking devices on or in him before you move him," Archanfel told him, leaving with an off handed wave.

"Oh, I intend to give him a thorough going over," Balkus said coldly to the empty room. By the time he was done with him, Balkus intended that the treacherous scientist would wish he had done the honorable thing when he had the chance.

/x/

Imakarum swore softly under his breath at the sound of the door signal indicating that there was someone outside the office. He had immersed himself with backtracking their six spies, trying to figure out where exactly the security checks had slipped up, and he wasn't in the mood to be disturbed.

"What?" he snapped as soon as the door had opened enough for the person to step inside.

"Forgive the interruption, my Lord, but Lord Aminculus's transport will be arriving in 10 minutes," a nameless soldier told him.

"Have de Galenos meet him at the pad," he said sharply, waving the man away.

"Yes, my Lord," the soldier said, bowing smartly, and getting out fast, unwilling to risk further irritating the Zoalord.

It took Imakarum a moment to notice that the door hadn't closed with the man's departure, and that someone was still hovering in the doorway. Looking up sharply, he bit back what he had been about to say.

"This is not a good time Sho," he said instead, moderating his tone as much as he could, although Sho still picked up on the irritation.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you, I was just wondering if anything was happening, we haven't seen you since we got here," he said.

"Not much, that I know of, although we may have more news when Shin arrives shortly," Imakarum told him.

Sho was about to leave the Zoalord to it when he caught sight of the pictures on the desk, the faces of the people that were currently being hunted in Japan.

"Isn't he dead?" he asked in surprise, moving closer to the desk and pushing one picture slightly away from the others.

"Why would you think he was dead?" Imakarum asked.

"You would have to check with Tetsuro to be sure, but I'm fairly certain this guy was at Mt. Minakami, and if not him, he must have had a twin. You probably wouldn't have noticed him, given that you were either unconscious or in battle most of the time we were there, but this guy was one of the janitorial staff around the labs, I'm almost certain of that. I thought I saw him down there right before Makishima and I went into the Ark."

Imakarum turned to his keyboard and printed out another copy of the picture Sho had picked out, handing it to the youth.

"Would you check with Tetsuro, and Mizuki too, confirm your suspicion, and if they agree with you I'll go from there."

"Sure," Sho bobbed his head in a quick nod and headed off to find his friends.

Imakarum picked up his copy of the picture, looking at it thoughtfully, none of the staff at any of the Japan offices had officially come from the former Mt. Minakami base, which meant either it wasn't the same man, or he had lied about his identity when applying for his position, which was suspicious enough _before _you added in the fact that he had apparently gone into hiding. Minimizing the searches he had already been running on the six spies they had in custody, he started up a new search to pick this man's life apart. If this was the same man, then Mt. Minakami was probably the original point of contact between him and Makishima, which did offer the possibility that the hunt would come up empty handed, if he had already fled to his master.

/x/

Shin smiled to see his friend waiting for him at the landing pad.

"All is well on the Ark?" de Galenos asked after greeting the other man.

"Yes, Archanfel was there when I left, he intended to secure it against intrusion. He told me to inform you and Imakarum that they should be here at the end of the week. How have things been here?"

"Quiet, the spy issue has been somewhat problematic, but I think we are on the home strait with that now," de Galenos sighed.

"I hope so, we have enough problems without even more people betraying us from the inside," Shin agreed.

They were traversing one of the corridors in the residential section when a worried looking Sho came across them.

"Is something wrong?" de Galenos asked.

"I'm not sure, Lord Imakarum told me to double check something I told him, and I can't find him to tell him what I found out," Sho told him, eyeing Shin warily, not sure what he should say in front of him.

"What was it about?"

"One of the men in the pictures on his desk. I thought I recognized him from when we were hiding at the Mt. Minakami base, and he told me to go double check with the others. Tetsuro recognized him too, but now I don't know where Lord Imakarum is," Sho sighed.

Shin closed his eyes, concentrating on searching out the feeling of the other Zoalord within the base.

"He isn't here," he finally said a moment later, his eyebrow raising in surprise.

"Well, he can take care of himself, I'm sure he won't have gone all that far anyway," de Galenos said with a slight shrug.

Sho wasn't so sure, with Makishima, and this Apollyon character loose somewhere, it wasn't exactly reassuring that Imakarum had gone off somewhere alone, he had a tendency to come off worst going against Makishima, although Guyver 3 no longer having access to the Gigantic should even the odds a little.

"If you're sure," he finally said.

Excusing himself, Sho headed back to the room he shared with Tetsuro, folding the picture in half and shoving it in his pocket. If Imakarum hadn't come back after dinner time, then he would worry.

/x/

Archanfel turned as the door to his quarters slid open, sensing the arrival of his son, and the swelling, burning rage that flowed around him.

"Masaki?" he queried, wondering what he was doing back here, and what had driven him to such anger.

Taking a deep breath, trying to push the anger down, Imakarum ran a hand through his hair.

"I know how they made the Zoacrystal that they gave to Guyot," he said flatly.

"How?"

"Hamilcar's security has been compromised."

"Explain," Archanfel demanded, his eyes narrowing.

"This man, one of the number the teams are hunting for here, Sho told me he thought the man had been at the Minakami base. No-one from the Minakami base was officially transferred to any other base, so I checked into him. Guyot personally hired him for Mt. Minakami, which is suspicious enough, as far as I know, the Zoalords don't personally hire the janitors. After Minakami fell, I thought I lost track of him for a while, but when I ran his picture through the central system, I got a hit on nearly half the bases in Japan, all under different names. I think he's set up cells in every base he's been in, the bastard is still working for Guyot, and as far as I can tell, making a little extra money on the side selling information to Makishima, who he would have met while at the mountain. We're either going to need to go through every one of these bases one by one looking for the spies, or abandon half of the Japan section, if we can't get hold of this joker."

"And Hamilcar's security?"

"Our friendly neighborhood spy was sleeping with the senior lab assistant at Mt. Minakami, I would bet good money that the information was taken back then, Guyot would have wanted it before he started his betrayal, to make sure he could make replacement crystals if he needed to," Imakarum said, his anger finally starting to cool.

"Well, if that's the case, Guyot could be in for a nasty surprise. The full Zoacrystals aren't like the proto-crystals, and making one based just on the information in Hamilcar's files will result in a flawed crystal."

"What will happen?" Imakarum asked, curious.

"Too long in battle form, and the imperfect crystal will fail. Not just crack or break, but without the stabilization in creation, it will degrade to dust, just like that," Archanfel told him with a snap of his fingers.

"And how long would we need to keep him in battle form for that to happen?" Imakarum asked, a cold, calculating smile lighting his face.

"I don't know, Hamilcar will have to calculate it, and it will also depend on how much energy he expends. Using the Remover of course expends a massive amount of energy, but letting him use that on anyone would be a huge risk," Archanfel warned.

Imakarum's smile turned even more feral, and he absently rubbed his arm, the same one Guyot had torn off, twice.

"Oh, I think with proper planning, he can be _disarmed _before he becomes too much of a nuisance with that thing," he said darkly.

"Good," Archanfel smiled, sensing that Imakarum's anger was now controlled enough that he wouldn't explode at the slightest provocation.

"I will get Hamilcar on those calculations later, and if we manage to catch this master spy, or otherwise confirm that the information is what they used, we'll plan accordingly. Come and have lunch with me now, and then when Hamilcar and I arrive at the end of the week, we can all get involved in a proper planning meeting," Archanfel told him.

Imakarum nodded, accepting the invitation, and followed Archanfel from the room, trying to steer his thoughts away from dealing with Guyot, for the moment.

tbc


	18. Chapter 18

Makishima rampaged around the now almost deserted Thunderbolt's base, the few people who were left staying the hell out of his way as he smashed up processing tanks and computers in his rage. He didn't understand how it had all gotten so out of his control, he had been sure that he had every eventuality covered, and yet everything was falling apart so quickly. He had lost access to the Gigantic, the fact that it had been taken from him by that weak willed little traitor Fukamachi still rankled, Shizu was gone, Heckaring was gone, the Liberatus were gone, and all he had left was a few of Donovan's men who had managed to evade capture, one spy, who hadn't contacted him since the morning of the attack several days before, and a couple of processing techs who were of little use to him anymore. Sho and the others turning traitor was another massive thorn in his side, he had been _certain _that they hated Chronos enough to stay well away from them, _certain _that he had them in a position where he could always use Fukamachi if he needed to, with the Segawas and the other stray they had picked up along the way as emergency hostages if necessary.

"Damn you all," he screamed, punching a hole in the wall, allowing snow flakes to spin in from the frigid air outside.

"My, you do have quite a temper, don't you? Never mind, I am sure we can still be of use to one another," the smooth, calm voice from behind him made him spin sharply, the Guyver's weaponry rapidly coming online even before he saw the armored figure that screamed 'Zoalord' to his sensors.

The armored head cocked lightly to the side as hands spread to show he meant no threat.

"I am Apollyon, and I believe we should talk," he said lightly.

"What could you possibly imagine we have to talk about, _Zoalord_?" he spat in an acidic tone.

"Hmm, how would the end of Chronos do for an opening conversation?" Apollyon asked in a clearly amused tone.

Makishima paused, his mind going over the possibilities at a mile a minute. It could be a trap, but then again, this guy had crept up behind him, if he wanted him dead, he could have killed him without breaking a sweat. He could be serious, which left him with the choice of either saying no, and losing a potentially valuable ally in a battle he was rapidly losing any hope of winning, or saying yes, and getting into an alliance with what was to all intents an enemy, exactly what he was livid at Fukamachi for. At least _he_ would still be fighting the right enemy though, Makishima rationalized, powering down his weapons.

"I'm listening," he told Apollyon quietly.

/x/

Sho wandered out through the doors into the enclosed garden behind the meeting room where the four of them had finally been properly introduced to the remaining Zoalords, now that they were all together in one place again. Imakarum stood on top of the high stone wall surrounding the garden, staring out at the hills a few miles away.

"What are you doing up there?" Sho asked curiously.

"Indulging my paranoia, I keep feeling that we're being watched," Imakarum told him, turning and dropping off the wall, landing gracefully.

"How is it going in there?" he asked.

"Ok, I think, the others seem a little more relaxed around the Zoalords now, and Tetsuro has managed to get Lord Balkus to talk to him about basic processing, he's interested in how a person's Zoanoid type is decided," Sho told him as they stepped back inside the room.

Imakarum smiled faintly at that, but Sho could tell his mind was elsewhere, much like it had been since the day he pulled his vanishing act. Stepping over to where Archanfel and de Galenos were watching the girls talking to Shin, and Balkus talking to Tetsuro, Imakarum laid a hand on the supreme Zoalord's arm.

"I think we're going to need to be prepared to move sooner, rather than later," he told him quietly.

"You still feel we are being watched?"

"Yes, and I still can't figure out exactly where from. I don't see our spy master doing anything as overt as watching us himself, Makishima would attack us, not spy on us, if he knew where we were located, so that potentially leaves us with Apollyon, or the traitors, and the traitors are the only ones we are in a position to do anything about at the moment."

"Are we ready to attack them?" de Galenos asked.

"We're close, my Zoanoids are nearly ready, we should be able to tie them to me in the next 24 hours or so, but we still need a secondary Zoalord commander for them, before we can use them in an attack against other Zoalords," Imakarum said.

"I believe Shin would be the best option for that," Archanfel mused, he shook his head, "we will discuss it later," he said, waving him away to join the others.

"Why would you need a secondary commander, I thought you all controlled all Zoanoids," Sho asked as they walked away again.

"Makishima did have one useful idea Sho, when fighting Zoalords, make sure the Zoanoids at your back can't be controlled by your enemy," Imakarum told him as they drew level with Balkus and Tetsuro.

"Ah, Imakarum, I was just about to take young Mr. Segawa down to the processing lab and let him spend some time with the processing supervisor," the old man said.

Imakarum almost rolled his eyes at how _that _had been phrased; no wonder the boy looked faintly unsure about the prospect.

"Fine, I will send Akira along with you then, to escort him back to his quarters when he is done," he said, summoning the Zoanoid.

"See you later Sho," Tetsuro told his friend, much happier about following the Zoalord from the room now.

"He could have put that better," Sho said nervously, looking at the door they had vanished through.

"I know, don't worry about him Sho, Hamilcar really has no intention of doing anything other than introducing him to the processing supervisor, Tetsuro must have impressed him. I only sent Akira along to make Tetsuro feel more comfortable, and as I said, to make sure he gets back to your rooms later."

"Ok," Sho nodded, peeling off from Imakarum when Mizuki called him over.

/x/

"Well?" Guyot demanded as soon as the small grey/green Zoanoid slunk into the room.

"They are all together once more, but we can't get close to the base, Imakarum seems to know when we are watching."

"Damn it, I want the whelp and the Guyver," Guyot snarled petulantly, slamming his hand down on the table.

"Why are you so interested in Imakarum? He's nothing, Archanfel's puppet," Bun Haiyern snorted dismissively.

"I want _my _Zoacrystal back, and I want that jumped up prototype dead," Guyot growled.

"You more than likely wouldn't even survive an attempt now to reprocess you to accept another Zoacrystal, even if it is the one you possessed originally," Krummeggnic pointed out, leaning back in his chair after dismissing the nervous spy Zoanoid with a wave of his hand, Guyot had already killed two of that class for not bringing him news he wanted to hear, and he thought it unnecessarily wasteful.

"I don't care, I want it back and I want to tear his heart out," Guyot snarled, storming from the room.

"He grows more unstable," Krummeggnic pointed out to Bun Haiyern.

"I know, but until we can get the remover device from him without risking damage to it, we cannot kill him. Our best chance will probably be the next time he takes it out to use it, and to make that happen, we need one of the Guyvers. We might be able to draw Guyver 1 away from the protection of Archanfel and the others if we can get our hands on one of his companions, have the spies refocus on them, they can't stay inside all the time."

"I thought of that already, but they never leave unaccompanied, we could not get them without a fight, and our spies could not handle the two Elegen class who are assigned as bodyguard, not to mention that the Guyver is usually with them too."

"Well, keep watching them, we dare not attempt to fight Archanfel's _faithful_, without the advantage of the Guyver," Bun Haiyern sighed, getting up and leaving the room to make sure that Guyot wasn't taking out his temper on their hapless Zoanoids. They didn't exactly have the raw material around here to replace them en-mass.

"Oh, believe me, my _friend_, I will watch very closely, the advantage of the Guyver will be _mine_," he sneered, as soon as he could, he would get rid of both Guyot _and _Bun Haiyern, he would rule unopposed.

/x/

Balkus walked into the processing room holding eight occupied processing tanks, standing around a padded table that was wired into the tanks.

"Are you ready, Lord Imakarum?" he asked, he couldn't see him, but he knew he was here.

"Yes," Imakarum acknowledged, stepping out of the shadows, he was wearing his robes, as the least uncomfortable option for lying on the table.

"Then, if you would," Balkus said, gesturing to the table.

Imakarum hopped up onto the table and lay down making himself as comfortable as he could before Balkus started sticking electrodes to his temples.

"Right, they are receptive, and I will be monitoring from the other room to make sure I don't interfere with your control link. You will have to watch for a visual cue to know that I am ready for you to begin, this room is fully shielded to block all external telepathic signals."

"Understood."

The old man fixed the last electrodes in place, and left the room without another word. He raised an eyebrow when he went into the monitoring room and saw Shin there.

"Lord Archanfel just informed me that I would be their secondary commander, I will admit to being a little curious," he shrugged.

"I will call up their specifications for you in a moment, I just need to get Imakarum started, and monitor the first few minutes."

"Thank you, but this is what I was curious about, I know Guyver 3 had his Zoanoids tied to one commander, but it is not something _we _have ever done, so I was wondering how you would go about it."

"It is simply a matter of rendering them blind to anything other than the specific Zoalords we want commanding them, the worse thing that can happen at this point is that we accidentally take it too far, and make them blind to _all _telepathic control. The time required to make more of this class would be an unfortunate delay," Balkus said, sending the signal to Imakarum to begin taking control of the unconscious Zoanoids, and monitoring closely as their telepathic centers began to fall in sync with Imakarum's, he nodded in satisfaction and set the computers to alert him if they started to fall out of sync again, and then turned his attention back to Shin, if Archanfel had nominated him as the secondary commander, it would be best if he went in and set his link in place immediately after their primary commander. If all went well, they would be ready to attack the traitors in a matter of days.

tbc.


	19. Chapter 19

Sho woke with a start, uncertain what had disturbed his sleep, everything was silent, aside from the faint sounds of Tetsuro snoring in the next bedroom, but still he had a vague, cold, creeping feeling of threat, danger. Shuddering, he tried to dismiss it as an unremembered dream, but instinct warned him that was a _bad_ idea, somehow he knew that he had unconsciously picked up something from Makishima, that the other Guyver had found something, or done something, that made him more of a threat than he already had been. He threw the covers aside and got up, pulling his clothes and sneakers on before slipping out of the suite he and Tetsuro had been assigned to share, and into the quiet corridors.

He left the residential floors, his feet carrying him toward where the common areas were, he didn't expect to find Imakarum, or any of the Zoalords for that matter, in the lounges, but he suspected he might find someone who could tell him where Imakarum was.

"Should you be roaming at this hour of the morning?"

Archanfel's voice startled him enough that he almost tripped over his own feet, and by the time he regained his balance, the Supreme Zoalord had stepped into the corridor from the balcony he had been standing on.

"I was looking for Imakarum," he said quietly.

One blond eyebrow rose, but Archanfel didn't comment, his eyes unfocussed briefly, and he shook his head.

"He is still with Hamilcar and Shin, working on the telepathic link for the new Zoanoids, it is unlikely he will be free for several hours yet," Archanfel told him.

"Oh," Sho bit his lip uncertainly.

"Is something troubling you?"

"Kind of. I…you'll think it's stupid," he sighed.

"Possibly, but you won't know unless you tell me," he pointed out.

"All right, I just got woken up by a feeling, it's vague, hard to describe, but I think Makishima has done something, or found something awful, something that will make him even more dangerous."

"Ah," Archanfel frowned faintly, wondering if Sho's feeling of danger fitted in with Masaki's certainty that they were being watched, or if several of their enemies were massing for their final strikes.

"You do think it's stupid."

"No, far from it. Come," Archanfel said, turning and moving off down the corridor without looking to see if Sho followed.

They went down to the lower levels, where the labs were, and Archanfel led him into the monitoring room where Balkus was watching the readings from where Imakarum and Shin were now both lying in the processing lab.

"Why are they _both_ there?" Archanfel demanded.

"Shin couldn't set a link in place after Imakarum had done so, they rejected his control, so Imakarum had to go back in to allow them to take the secondary link."

"How quickly can you get this finished?"

"The links should be settled any time now, but then they will need to be tested. Has something happened, my Lord?"

"Possibly. Can the testing be delayed?"

"Yes, but I would seriously recommend against going into battle with them _without _performing at least basic tests."

"I will take that under advisement. I want the three of you in the Council Room as soon as they are out of there," Archanfel ordered.

"Yes, my Lord," Balkus acknowledged, bowing his head briefly as Archanfel swept out of the room again, Sho once more scurrying behind him to catch up. He wondered what had set the elder Zoalord off, when only a few hours ago it had seemed like they had sufficient time to plan things properly, but then dismissed it from his mind, it wasn't the kind of thing he wanted Archanfel to catch him thinking.

de Galenos was already in the Council Room when Sho and Archanfel arrived, waiting patiently.

"de Galenos, I want the teams searching for Guyver 3 and Apollyon doubled, at once, I want them found. As soon as Shin becomes available once more, I will send him to take command of the teams from you, and you will take a team of covert Zoanoids back to South America. You are to watch the traitors, but do not allow them to know you are there, do not confront them directly, I want to know immediately if the appear to be preparing to make a move, or if there should be any hints that they are collaborating with either of the other two enemies."

"Yes, my Lord," de Galenos bowed and hurried out to follow his orders.

"You don't really think Makishima would join up with Apollyon, or the others, do you?" Sho asked.

"I doubt he would risk the traitors, not if he is aware that Guyot has the remover, but Apollyon, I would not dismiss collusion out of hand there."

"But, he's a Zoalord of some description, isn't he? Makishima _hates _the Zoalords."

"No, Guyver 3 hates _us. _He has been stripped now of most of his support, as far as we can tell, I have no doubt that if Apollyon presented himself as the lesser of two evils, Guyver 3 would be pragmatic enough to join with him."

"That isn't pragmatism, it's hypocrisy," Sho said with soft bitterness.

"I would suppose that depends which side of the line you are standing on, Fukamachi-kun, I have no doubt that he would say the same of you joining forces with us. You are both fighting for what you believe in, the difference being, you are in possession of knowledge that he is not, and even if he were given that information I do not think he would shift his stance. I do not believe he has been entirely stable for quite some time."

Sho thought about it for a long moment, and then nodded slowly, understanding the older man's point.

"So you think that's maybe what I felt then, what woke me up; Makishima feeling happy, empowered, from allying with Apollyon?"

"Yes, so now we need to take out Guyot and the others fast, if for no other reason than to eliminate the threat posed by the remover before one of them gets it into their heads to beat us to it, or worse, all of them uniting against us."

"We can be ready to move out as soon as the links to the new Zoanoids are tested, and the battle plans are finalized, however, we must be ready for the possibility that this will be the endgame, if we get into a battle with the three traitors, it is unlikely Guyver 3 and Apollyon will not notice and decide to join the fray. What's going on, I thought everything was fairly stable at the moment?" Imakarum asked, entering the room with Balkus and Shin, and taking his seat to Archanfel's right.

"Fukamachi-kun," Archanfel indicated for him to speak, and Sho gulped, feeling his face heat, he hated being the center of attention.

"A little while ago, I was woken up by a feeling of threat, cold and dangerous, and I'm sure the feeling came from Makishima."

"You're pushing us into a confrontation because of a bad dream?" Balkus asked Archanfel, startled.

"I doubt it was a dream, there is a link of sorts between the Guyver units and their hosts, and if Guyver 3 has found a new weapon or something, he would probably want to gloat that he still wasn't defeated, that he was still in a position to hurt us," Imakarum said quietly, leaning back in his chair.

"Unfortunately, I do not believe it is a weapon he has found, I believe it is an alliance," Archanfel told his son.

"Ah," Imakarum said simply, dropping his head against the back of his seat with a tired sigh.

"We know _my_ control of the new Zoanoids is absolute, so no testing is required there, however we have not yet tested handover between commanders, or the potential for interference during handover, and whether or not Shin's control is as absolute as mine when he has them," Imakarum listed tilting his head slightly to look at Balkus, who considered for a moment.

"Pass control now, we can test Shin's control over them now, when it is less than optimal conditions, but I would prefer we all be rested before undertaking any further testing," Balkus said, looking directly at Imakarum, and Sho caught a definite undertone to that statement.

His suspicion was confirmed when Archanfel himself cast an assessing look at his second in command, and nodded.

"Hamilcar is right, we all need to rest, we may not get the chance in the next few days, Hamilcar, Shin, do what you must and get some rest, the rest of us will turn in now, and we can meet back here in six hours. Mr. Fukamachi, I would appreciate it if you would also return at that time," the Supreme Zoalord agreed.

"Of course," Sho nodded, pleased he wasn't going to be shut out.

Imakarum frowned slightly focusing on passing control of the newest creations over to Shin, and then rose from his seat.

"Come on Sho, I'll walk you back to your quarters."

Archanfel watched the two leave, his eyes sharp, he hadn't missed the suspicion in the young Guyver's eyes when he had looked at Imakarum, and he sharpened his hearing to listen to the corridor.

Sho had pulled Imakarum to a halt not far from the room, and stood with his arms folded in front of him, looking at him hard.

"Something is not right with you," Sho stated bluntly.

"Sho…"

"Don't tell me nothing's wrong, don't lie to me," Sho said intensely.

"I'm not going to lie to you, but this is not the place Sho, come on, I'll walk you back, and provided Tetsuro is still asleep, we'll talk there."

"And if he isn't?"

"Then we'll talk tomorrow."

Sho eyed him for a moment, and then nodded his agreement to the older man, starting to walk down the corridor again.

Back inside the meeting room, Balkus raised a curious eyebrow at the concerned expression in Archanfel's golden eyes.

"Is something else wrong?" he queried.

"I believe we have managed to make Mr. Fukamachi suspicious of Masaki, he just challenged him," he sighed.

"Challenged him?"

"He knows something is wrong with him."

"Oh. What is Imakarum going to do about it?"

"Tell him, I suspect," Archanfel sighed, rising from his seat.

"Come, you need to get the tests run on Shin, he has to take over monitoring the teams searching for Apollyon and Makishima, as well as whatever tests you want to run, although for now, they can wake him if they need him, de Galenos is going back to South America to watch our 'friends'."

The two of them left the room together, before separating off to go their own ways. Archanfel turned his mind in Masaki's direction as he walked, feeling a steady determination there.

_/What are you going to tell him?/ _he asked.

_/The truth, I suppose, well, as much or as little of the truth as I can get away with. I don't know, I'll talk to you tomorrow,/ _Imakarum sighed mentally.

_/Goodnight, child,/ _Archanfel sent, breaking the contact and leaving Masaki alone with his thoughts.


End file.
